President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Tuesday instructed the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Folashodun Shonubi to impose additional sanctions on entities and individuals connected to the military junta in Niger Republic.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Mr Ajuri Ngelale said this while briefing State House correspondents in Abuja.
He said the President’s directive was in line with the additional sanctions announced by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) which he chairs.
“I can also report that following the expiration of the deadline of the ultimatum and standing on the pre-existing consensus position of financial sanctions meted out on the military junta in Niger Republic by the bloc of ECOWAS Heads of State, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an additional slew of financial sanctions through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on entities and individuals related to or involved with the military junta in Niger Republic.
“I said that intentionally I didn’t make a mistake, because I was given permission to make that statement and I emphasised that this is not an individual action taken by an individual President on behalf of individual nation.
“This is an action taken yes, by ECOWAS chairman who is the president of Nigeria, but standing on the authority provided by the consensus resolution of all ECOWAS members and heads of state with regard to financial sanctions being levied by ECOWAS Member States against the military junta in Niger Republic.
“There is an authority that we are standing on. It is not Nigerian government authority, it is the authority of the resolution passed in public before now,” he said.
He said the actions and decisions on Niger Republic being coordinated by President Tinubu are not personal as they are protocols already established by the ECOWAS before he became president.
“Concerning the ultimatum given to the military Junta in Niger Republic, the ECOWAS mandate, and ultimatum is not a Nigerian ultimatum. It is not a Nigerian mandate.
“And the office of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also serving as the chairman of ECOWAS, seeks to emphasize this point, that due to certain domestic and international media coverage, tending toward a personalization of the ECOWAS sub regional position to his person and to our nation individually.
“It is because of this that Mr. President has deemed it necessary to state unequivocally that the mandate and ultimatum by issued ECOWAS is that of ECOWAS’ position.
“While his Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assumed the ECOWAS chairmanship, the position of ECOWAS conveys the consensus position of member heads of state. And a coup will not occur in one’s backyard, without one be particularly aware of it.
“The president in recent days, particularly following the expiration of the ultimatum given by ECOWAS has widened consultations internationally but most especially domestically, including interfaces with state governors in Nigeria, who govern states bordering Niger public on the various fallouts and outcomes of the unfortunate situation that has unfolded in Niger Republic.
“But President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, wishes to emphasize to this distinguished audience that the response of ECOWAS to the military coup in Niger has been and will remain devoid of ethnic and religious sentiments and considerations.
“The regional bloc is made up of all sub regional ethnic groups, religious groups, and all other forms of human diversity. And the response of ECOWAS, therefore, represents all of these groups, and not any of these groups individually,” he said.