NIGERIA
NIGERIA: No third term for President Buhari.
The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has declared that he does not aspire to stay in power at the end of his second term in 2023. In a New Year message, the head of state undertakes to respect the Nigerian constitution to the letter.
Muhammadu Buhari has put an end to all speculation about the number of terms he would try to run for. He said he is no longer presidential from 2023 which marks the end of his second term. Her main concerns now are the safety of Nigerian citizens.
Muhammadu Buhari has been at the head of Nigeria since May 2015. General of the army, he had taken advantage of a coup to run the country from December 1983 to August 1985.
However, he was a candidate in the presidential elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011 but could not win the votes of his people. It was in 2015 that he was able to beat the outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan. After a four-year term, he was re-elected in 2019.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) celebrated its 50th anniversary on 28 May 2025 in Lagos, in the presence of several heads of state and government from the region. The organization’s current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, welcomed his counterparts to this highly symbolic ceremony.
The celebration was held at the historic site where, in 1975, the founding treaty of ECOWAS had been signed. A commemorative ceremony marked the link between past, present and future, underlining continued commitment to West African integration.
In a collective message, the organization praised “50 years of building bridges, crossing barriers and creating milestones”. It also reaffirmed its vision of a united, stable and forward-looking West Africa.
Photo credit: ECOWAS page
At least 24 people have died and dozens more are missing in the sinking on Sunday of a boat carrying peasants to their fields in central Nigeria on Sunday 10 September.
The boat was carrying more than a hundred peasants crossing the Niger River to go to their crops located on the other side, in the State of Niger, when the boat capsized, aindiqué in a statement Garba Salihu, the head of the Relief Management Agency of that State.
“At this point, 24 bodies were found and 30 people were rescued,” he said. More than 100 people were to be on board when the sinking occurred,’ he added. The causes of the accident were not specified.
Operations continued to find missing passengers, he said.
On Friday, ten people drowned and three were reported missing when a boat with 23 passengers
Amin Suleiman, the local head of the Relief Management Agency, told AFP that he had capsized on Lake Njuwa in Adamawa State (north).
Shipwrecks of boats in Nigeria on rivers, very borrowed, are frequent. They are usually due to overloaded boats, poor maintenance or non-compliance with safety rules.
It’s an open secret. ECOWAS gave the Nigerien putschists a week to restore constitutional order, and does not rule out using force if this ultimatum is not respected. In Nigeria, the army is already ready to intervene. Indeed, according to the chief of general staff of the armies of the country, his men are waiting only for the orders of ECOWAS to land in Niamey.
“This is unacceptable”
“You have heard what President (Bola Tinubu) said, if the problems continue, action will be taken. He said that no one would support a military takeover of power. That is unacceptable. We stand up for democracy and it must continue. And we will do exactly what the chair says. We are ready and as soon as we receive the order to intervene, we will,” Musa said, according to RFI.
He says he is absolutely sure to carry out the operation if it starts. “Everyone is retaliating and our president is in discussions with his counterparts in neighbouring countries. We are convinced that the putschists knew that what they were doing would not pass. We are sure to win over them,” he continued.
Threats from Mali and Burkina Faso
Needless to say, Mali and Burkina Faso have already warned ECOWAS against military intervention in Niger. This would lead to a withdrawal of Bamako and Ouagadougou from the sub-regional organization as well as «the adoption of self-defence measures in support of the armed forces and the people of Niger».
