Buhari abandons Boko Haram, bandits, goes to Mali to resolve election irregularity crisis

President Muhammadu Buhari in within 24 hours that Boko Haram murdered five Aid workers in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, embarked on trip to Mali to intervene in political crisis resulting from resistance to manipulation or obstruction of transparent election process. The intervention trip was also at a time that lives and property have further become insecure amidst the ravage of bandits in the northwest, beside the kidnapping ventures. More appalling is that soldiers, in particular, are losing confidence in the security system of Nigeria, while the highly frustrated security operatives are resigning from the military. These problems have remained unresolved while the president is out to intervene for the resolution of the crisis in Mali where the leader ordered military onslaught on protesting civilians.

The Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement on Wednesday indicated that the President will depart for Bamako, Mali, on Thursday on a one-day visit for intervention in the political crisis in the country after the briefing by the ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali, former President Goodluck Jonathan, at the State House, Abuja.

He highlighted that President Buhari and some ECOWAS leaders agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country.

The statement indicated that the delegation would be led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic.

Host President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and Presidents Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire are expected to attend the intervention meeting in Bamako.

Former President Jonathan was at the State House, Abuja, with the President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, on Tuesday to brief President Buhari on the unfolding situation in Mali, pointing out the need for ECOWAS leaders to consolidate on the agreements reached by various parties.

“We will ask the President of Niger, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS to brief us as a group, and we will then know the way forward,” President Buhari had said.

National Daily gathered that a resistance group, M5, is insisting that the Constitutional Court must be dissolved, and the President must resign before peace can return to the country.

It was narrated that crisis broke out after the court nullified results of 31 seats in the parliamentary election held recently, declaring other contenders who lost the election winners. This the resistance group protested was done at the instigation of President Keita.

Security agents worsened the conflicts when extreme brute force was used against protesters who participated in the July 10 riot where several protesters were killed.

The Prime Minister of Mali later apologized for the “excesses” of security forces who shot at anti-government protesters, killing many. The Prime Minister, however, rejected opposition demand for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.