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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari will today depart for Bamako, Republic of Mali on a one-day peace mission to help find lasting solution to the political crisis rocking the country.
A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the visit follows the briefing by the ECOWAS Special Envoy to the country, former President Goodluck Jonathan.
A resistance group, M5, is insisting that the Constitutional Court must be dissolved, and the Malian President must resign, before peace can return to the country.
Crisis had erupted after the court nullified results of 31 parliamentary seats in the polls held recently, awarding victory to some other contenders, which the resistance group said was at the instigation of President Ibrahim Keita.
Riots on July 10 had led to the killing of some protesters by security agents, causing the crisis to spiral out of control, hence the intervention by ECOWAS.
The statement by Adesina said: “The Nigerian President and some ECOWAS leaders led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the sub-regional organisation, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country.
“Host president, Ibrahim Keita and presidents Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire are expected to participate in the Bamako meeting.
“Former President Jonathan was at the State House in company of President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, on Tuesday to brief President Buhari on the unfolding situation in Mali, necessitating the visit of ECOWAS leaders to consolidate on the agreements reached by various parties. “
During Jonathan’s visit, President Buhari had said he would ask the President of Niger, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS to brief the group so that they would know the way forward.
He thanked Dr. Jonathan for his comprehensive brief on the situation in Mali, saying “you had been abreast with since when you were the sitting Nigerian President.”
“The former President had filled in President Buhari on his activities as Special Envoy to restore amity to Mali, rocked by protests against President Keita, who has spent two out of the five years second term in office.”
