Professor Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, has accused President Bola Tinubu of destroying the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
Yusuf said Tinubu’s decision to unilaterally switch off the electricity supply to the Republic of Niger after the recent coup in the country was an attempt to destroy ECOWAS.
Featuring on Arise TV on Saturday, Yusuf said: “President Bola Tinubu botched the negotiation with Niger Republic after the military coup. Remember that after the coup, Tinubu, as President of ECOWAS, unilaterally switched off the electricity supply to Niger Republic based on the treaty of 60 years ago.
“He placed sanctions and brought upfront what he should have kept; he brought upfront the threat of violence. He sent his military buses everywhere, and that was what gave the young military men the legitimacy in their land.
“How can you threaten your neighbour and say we will talk later, at a time when you had no cabinet in place and your security chiefs were just getting their feet wet? You unilaterally did all these without consultation.
“The northern Nigerian people in Niger Republic are our blood brothers and sisters. They are Hausa, Fulanis, and Kanuris everywhere. ECOWAS was created 49 years ago by Yakubu Gowon and his then-fellow presidents. Next year it will be 50, but Tinubu has destroyed in nine months what was created 49 years ago due to lack of consultation and hubris.”
