By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari plans to visit Mali on Thursday to dialogue with other Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS) leaders on how to resolve the political crisis in the landlocked country.
Buhari made up his mind to go on the peace mission after he was briefed by ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali, former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari and some regional leaders, led by ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government Chairman, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations.
Others expected to participate in the meeting in Bamako are Presidents Ibrahim Keita (Mali), Machy Sall (Senegal), Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana), and Alassane Ouattara (Cote d’Ivoire).
Jonathan on Tuesday went to Aso Rock in company of ECOWAS Commission President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, to brief Buhari on the situation in Mali, necessitating the visit of 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,” Buhari said.
He thanked Jonathan for his comprehensive brief on the situation in Mali, with which he said Jonathan had been abreast since his days in the Villa.
Jonathan had filled in Buhari on his activities as special envoy to restore amity to Mali, rocked by protests against Keita, who has spent only two out of his five years’ second term in office.
A resistance group, M5, is insisting that the Constitutional Court be dissolved, and Keita resign, before peace can return to the country.
Crisis erupted after the court nullified results of 31 parliamentary seats in the polls held recently, awarding victory to some other contenders, which M5 said was at the instigation of Keita.
Riots on July 10 led to the killing of protesters by security agents, causing the crisis to spiral out of control, before the intervention by ECOWAS.