Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN has said the recent exit of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a temporary fix.
During an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica, Mr Falana said the three junta-led countries will rush back to ECOWAS once democracy is restored.
He said because the people of the region perceive ECOWAS as an organisation of the people, there is no way the pulling out of these three countries will pull people from collaborating among themselves.
He said,
“Because of the sanctions imposed on those countries by ECOWAS because of the unconstitutional change of power, those three countries out of four that are under military rule, the juntas have decided to pull out of ECOWAS. For me, it’s a temporary fix.
Once democracy is restored in each of those countries, the constitutional government will have to rush back to ECOWAS.
Because for the people of the region, ECOWAS is no longer a club of African or West African dictator, it has become an organisation of the people.
There is no way the pulling out of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso will pull the people out of collaborating among themselves. Trading is still going on in spite of the sanctions.
You can’t ask people in Niger not to have relationship with people in Nigeria, Chad, Mali and the rest of them.”