Nigeria will continue to support Mali within ECOWAS limitations – Buhari
Adodo Osewengie
The Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari, has told the Special Envoy led by Mali’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Col. Abdoulaye Maiga, that Nigeria will render all necessary assistance within the limitations and tenets of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Mali.
Buhari in the meeting with the Special Envoy sent by Col. Assimi Goita, the Transitional President of Mali on Thursday, after receiving the briefing from Maiga on the conclusions reached in the National Conference on State-Rebuilding, held in Bamako, December 27-30, 2021, noted that Mali should implement the recommendations to restore the country to the constitutionally recognised democratic system.
According to Buhari, every country has its peculiar challenges it is tackling noting that no one can love Mali better than Malians. He added that Nigeria will do all it can to assist the sister country in any way it can within the ECOWAS limitations.
He recalled though Nigeria had in time past fought a civil war, it does not give him a clear understanding of the internal politics that exists in Mali, a West African country whose democratically elected President and Prime Minister were ousted from power in a coup led by Col. Assimi Goita on 24 May 2021.
“I am pleased you have briefed the ECOWAS Chairman too.
“Nigeria will work within ECOWAS limitations to assist Mali. Every country has its issues. We fought our civil war before, so we may not know the totality of the internal politics of each country. But we will make as much sacrifice as we can for Mali, within ECOWAS requirements”, Buhari said.
The Special Envoy noted that Col. Goita is eager to return the country to a democratic regime after repositioning the country’s electoral system adding that a review of electoral laws is ongoing to “professionalise the electoral process” and strengthen the democratic system.
In appreciation, the special envoy thanked Nigeria for all the support rendered to Mali through the ECOWAS Mediation Team led by former President Goodluck Jonathan and the bilateral relations that exist between both countries.
