In May 2023, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, worried about the rising spate of coup d’etat within the region and its impact on the rule of law and national development, hosted a national conference in Banjul at The Gambia on the subject. Leaving nothing to doubt, the theme of the conference was ‘Ecowas Zero Tolerance for Unconstitutional Change of Government’.
The Conference was well attended by legal experts, judges of national and international courts, members of the academia, heads of ECOWAS institutions, officers of States, etc. After extensive deliberations, the conference issued a communiqué on steps to be taken to stem the current tide of coup within the region. It is worthy of note that the court’s effort was to complement the efforts of the Authority of Heads of States and Governments to deal with the situations in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso, though it appears the Authority is doing too little or its tactics are just not right for the situation.
As news trickled in on Wednesday that the Presidential Guards are holding President Mohamed Bazoum captive inside the Presidential Palace in the Nigerien Capital, there are fears that Niger may join the list of ECOWAS States in which a coup has taken place in recent times. Will Niger become the fourth ECOWAS State where military juntas hold sway?
As expected, the ‘Unpleasant Developments in Niger Republic, as President Bola Tinubu, the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, termed it, has attracted commendation from diverse sources.
In a statement released earlier today, President Tinubu stressed that no situation that incapacitates the democratically-elected Government of Niger will be tolerated and that ‘[t]he ECOWAS leadership will not accept any action that impedes the smooth functioning of legitimate authority in Niger or any part of West Africa’. According to him, ‘we are closely monitoring the situation and developments in Niger and we will do everything within our powers to ensure democracy is firmly planted, nurtured, well rooted and thrives in our region’. Apart from speaking for the ECOWAS Authority, the President and Chairman went on to assure the people of Niger of the support of Nigeria. According to him ‘[a]s the Chairperson of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, I state without equivocation that Nigeria stands firmly with the elected government in Niger and equally conveys the absolute resolve of leaders in our sub-region that we shall not waiver or flinch on our stand to defend and preserve constitutional order’.
On its part, the ECOWAS Commission has also issued a statement to condemn in the strongest term the attempt to seize power by force’ with a demand that the democratically elected President Bazoum be unconditionally released immediately and a threat that the international community would hold all those involved responsible. In a statement released in its twitter handle, the African Union Commission also condemned the on-going coup situation and demanded an unconditional release of the President.
It is hoped that the coup plotters would heed these numerous calls and terminate their criminal enterprise immediately; we also hope appropriate action would be taken to normalise the situation should they not heed the calls.
Beyond that, as has been continuously said by several concerned citizens of the region, the best panacea to coups are free, fair and transparent elections, good government and the enthronement of the rule of law. When any or all of these foundational requirements for a democratic and prosperous society are absent, the tendency for disgruntled, and perhaps, ill advised opportune members of the society to resort to unconventional means of changing their government may just become a heroic venture.
While dealing with this situation, the Centre for Community Law would like to invite the civilian Heads of States and Governments of ECOWAS States to do a deep introspection on their actions and omissions and how such reflect on their people. They must begin to take serious action towards ensuring that all governments are fulfilling the constitutional convergence principles of the 2001 ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. Such would do better than the release of statements after the fact of coups.
@Cfcomlaw, 26 July, 2023
