Leaders of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have demanded that Ibrahim Boubacar Keita be reinstated as president of Mali.
The leaders made the demand after an emergency summit called to review the situation in Mali.
Recall that Keita was forced to resign in the on Wednesday by soldiers who toppled his government on Tuesday.
They also announced plans to visit Bamako, the Malian capital, amid growing concerns about regional stability.
Other resolutions taken at the extra-ordinary session include:
Firmness on the restoration of constitutional order;
Release of those arrested;
Stoppage of economic relations with Mali, with exceptions granted to staple foods, fuel and medication, for the sake of the people.
The leaders also called for continued engagement with all parties to the crisis and mandated former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, the Special Envoy on the crisis, and ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, to convey their decisions to the parties.
The ECOWAS leaders had earlier suspended Mali and halted financial flows to the in response to the overthrow of Keita.
President Muhmmadu Buhari advocated stiffer sanctions on the military regime to force a speedy return to democratic rule.
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He described the situation in Mali as a setback for regional diplomacy, which, according to him, poses a threat to the peace and security of the sub-region.
Buhari, who condemned the Malian military for breaching the very letter and spirit of the ECOWAS protocol on good governance and democracy, and urged leaders of the sub-region to ensure that the breach of protocol in Mali does not survive.
Buhari hailed the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN) and other international bodies for condemning the military coup and urged them to work with ECOWAS to restore peace and order in the country by insisting on the supremacy of constitutional provisions.
The President said: “The action of the military runs counter to the letter and spirit of ECOWAS Protocol on good governanceand democracy in which unconstitutional change of governments is prohibited.
“The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government should not allow this dastardly act to stand. Nigeria stands by the provisions of the Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy.
“Mali has been in political turmoil since the results of the parliamentary elections were announced in March. ECOWAS interventions, through a series of efforts by ministers, the special envoy and chief mediator and a group of heads of states of our organisation as well as an Extraordinary Summit did not yield positive results. Today, Mali has not only descended into political chaos, but also socio-economic and security disaster with potentially tragic consequences to Mali and the sub-region.
“I am pleased that ECOWAS, EU, UN and France issued strongly-worded statements against the action of the Malian military. The events in Mali are great setbacks for regional diplomacy which have grave consequences for the peace and security of West Africa. I am pleased, therefore, that this extra-ordinary summit, holding to discuss pathways to the debacle we face today in Mali, is most timely and appropriate.
“The closure of borders already called for by ECOWAS should be our first line of action. We need to isolate a series of sanction regimes that can create and sustain sufficient pressures on the military to force a return to constitutional governance.
“The critical issues for resolution in the Malian crisis had been aptly captured as the four-point pathways to peace. Within that context, and if all parties to the crisis were to abide by those recommendations, the developments now on the ground would have been avoided.”
The President added: “The action of the military in Mali has regrettably hoisted on us as a sub-region, the need to decide the options that will be consistent with the provisions of the Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy, which ECOWAS, AU and the UN subscribe to. In this context, therefore, Nigeria believes that President Keita and other detainees should be released unconditionally and with immediate effect.
“Furthermore, we strongly support the efforts of our Chairman, President Mahamadou Issoufou, for wider, regional and continental consultations with ECOWAS, AU and UN in adopting strong measures to promoting early restoration of constitutional order, peace and stability in Mali.
“Military involvement in governance, in whatever guise, is an aberration that has no place in managing the business of government that suspends the Constitution and with it, democratic institutions. It is time for the unconstitutional “authority” in Mali to act responsibly and do the needful by heeding to the above recommendations.
