PRESIDENT Tinubu has accepted an invitation to meet with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to discuss measures to take in settling the crisis in Niger Republic following the July 26 coup that removed President Mohamed Bazoum.
The “exclusive invitation” which was conveyed on Saturday by the US Special President Envoy and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, during a visit to Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, is aimed at discussing steps the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS and other international bodies should adopt to restore democratic rule in that country, including a military intervention if the need arise.
The meeting, according to Phee, is scheduled for September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which will hold in New York City.
“We appreciate your willingness to create an enabling environment for that. President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership,” the US envoy was quoted in a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.
“We know there is more we can do to incentivize large-scale American investment in Nigeria and we are committed to working closely with you to achieve that, as part of efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy and the regional economy.”
The statement also noted that Tinubu who accepted the invitation said as the Chairman of ECOWAS, he would explore every effort to resolve the Niger crisis with the ultimate aim of restoring democracy.
“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct.”
