Former Presidential aide, Remo Omokri has reacted to the Niger coup leader, Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, seeking to hand over power to the civilian government within the next three years.
Omokri said on tweets that General Tchiani’s promise, to hand over to civilians in three years is worthless, adding that this promise does not even worth the value of the paper from which he read it from.
Niger’s coup leader has promised to return the West African nation to civilian rule within three years, this was made known after meeting mediators from the West African regional bloc Ecowas in the capital, Niamey over the weekend.
Omokri said further that the military leader is just looking for relief from the ECOWAS, and if ECOWAS leaders give in, he will consolidate himself until another strongman removes him.
“Didn’t Abacha promise that his administration would be “brief”? Power corrupts, and absolute power, such as the type currently being wielded by Tchiani, corrupts absolutely”, the ex-aide said.
He stated that ECOWAS should continue with the squeeze in Niger. “Why do they still have GSM and Internet data? They depend on the French-based Eutelsat. Shut it down. Shut them out of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.
“Nobody should be rattled by Wagner forces in Niger, who are merciless mercenaries. They fight for money. Without money, their appetite for Niger will soon dim. And Russia is not in position to financially support Niger for a sustained period. It has its domestic issues to contend with.
Consign Niger back to the Stone Age, and his own soldiers and people will eventually turn against him, and General Tchiani will be forced to flee to either Russia or their client states like Mali or Burkina Faso.
“If General Tchiani is allowed to trick ECOWAS and get them to accept his Taqiyya promise, the domino effect of coup will continue to other West African nations. This is beyond Niger. Make Tchiani a scapegoat!”, he added.
Meanwhile, the ECOWAS had threatened military action to reverse last month’s overthrow of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum if talks fail while the junta head said that the country did not want a war but would defend itself against any foreign intervention.
Tchiani warned on his televised address on Saturday evening that “If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think”.
He noted that the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States do not realise that Niger has become the key to containing the region from destabilisation against the backdrop of increased terrorist activity.
Tchiani added that the sanctions imposed against his country were aimed at putting pressure on the rebels, and not at finding a solution to the current situation.
In addition, the military leader said that rebels do not seek to seize power in the country but rather seek to come to a solution that would meet the interests of the people.
