Niger Coup: CNPP Warns Nigeria Against Leading ECOWAS To War

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s led government of Nigeria has been cautioned against leading the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to war against the military junta in the Republic of Niger.

The Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) gave the admonition on Thursday in a statement issued and signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, James Ezema.

According to CNPP, Nigeria, as a country, cannot afford to fund such an expensive adventure while its citizens are suffering.

In the statement, the CNPP also faulted calling off of the jamboree-tagged nationwide protests by the Nigeria labour unions after the first day without any concrete roadmap on how the government intends to ameliorate the hardships faced by Nigerians following the petrol subsidy removal.

“The actions and inactions of the labour leaders have vindicated our position that Nigerians should not trust the labour movement to negotiate with the Federal Government on their behalf,” Ezema said, stressing that it will be difficult for President Tinubu’s administration to revive the petroleum refinery in Port Harcourt by December 2023 as claimed earlier by the Nigeria leader.

“The current management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are not reliable hands, having failed to get a single local refinery working in the last eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“NNPCL has been rehabilitating one refinery forever in the said contract between the company and Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont SpA.

“The CNPP advises President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately initiate a contract for a new refinery instead of wasting scarce resources on an outdated refinery in a digital age”, the CNPP said.

ECOWAS Should Rather Negotiate With Niger Military Junta

Speaking further on the developments in the Niger Republic, the CNPP maintained that the use of force to restore constitutional order in the country cannot work.

“In view of the economic realities in the country, Nigeria cannot afford to fund the war as many West African countries are opting out of the war option.

“ECOWAS should negotiate with the military junta in Niger and find a middle ground. No sacrifice too much in a bid to save lives and very limited resources”, the CNPP stated.

Advising the President to concentrate on cutting down the cost of government, the CNPP noted that “37 Ministers are more than enough to run a government and deliver on dividends of democracy.

“Nigeria is in deep economic crisis, with heavy debt burden and cutting down on the cost of running the Federal Government should be a priority of the President Tinubu administration.”