International
ECOWAS sends Togolese leader to engage Niger Junta
West African leaders yesterday took a step forward in their quest for the restoration of democracy in Niger Republic.
The sub-regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government raised a three-man negotiation team to mediate in the protracted political crisis in the country.
Led by President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, other members of the team are President Macky Sall of Sierra Leone and President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic.
The ECOWAS Authority, which is chaired by President Bola Tinubu, took the decision during its 64th Ordinary Session at the State House Conference Center in Abuja.
The team’s terms of reference are to negotiate Niger’s speedy return to democracy with the junta that seized power from the legitimate government led by Mohammed Bazoum, who is in detention, encourage the coup plotters to release a transition programme and facilitate the monitoring of the programme.
Besides, the ECOWAS Authority resolved to prevent any attempt to break the sub-regional group through foreign-sponsored alliances and set up a standby force for counterterrorism across region.
According to its communique read by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, the leaders mandated the three-man Committee to interface with the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), which is the military administration in Niger Republic.
It said the team was expected to rally the CNDP and other stakeholders to agree to a short transition roadmap and the establishment of transition organs and goals.
The Abdourahamane Tchiani-led CNSP had about a month ago requested that Togolese President Gnassingbe should lead the team to negotiate with it in resolving the impasse.
That followed the ousting in July the democratically elected administration of President Bazoum.
ECOWAS Authority said the outcome of the engagement with the CNSP will determine its subsequent resolutions; either to commence the progressive relieving of the imposed sanctions or sustain the sanctions, including the use of force, as well as requests for more actions against the junta from other international bodies.
The communiqué reads: “On the political situation in the Republic of Niger, the Authority recalled its decision at its extra ordinary summit of 30 July, 2023, and 10th August 2023.
“The Authority commends the efforts of the Chair of Authority, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, towards a peaceful resolution of the political crisis.
“The Authority deeply deplores the continued detention of President Mohammed Bazoum, his family and associates by the CNSP administration. The Authority further deplores the lack of commitment on the part of the CNSP to restore constitutional order. Consequently, the Authority calls on the CNSP to release President Mohammed Bazoum, his family and associates immediately and without condition.
“The Authority decides to set up a committee of heads of state, made up of the President and Head of State of the Republic of Togo, the President and the Head of State of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the President and Head of State of the Republic of Benin, to engage with CNSP and other stakeholders, with a view to agreeing on a short transition roadmap, establishing transition organs, as well as facilitating the setting up of a transition monitoring and evaluation mechanism towards the speedy restoration of constitutional order.
“Based on the outcomes of the engagement by the committee of heads of state with the CNSP, the Authority will progressively ease the sanctions imposed on Niger. Failure by the CNSP to comply with the outcomes of the engagement with the committee, ECOWAS shall maintain all sanctions, including the use of force and will request African Union and all other partners to enforce the targeted sanctions on members of the CNSP and their associates.”
The ECOWAS Authority also rejected new moves by external interests to balkanise the region by creating alliances among member-states.
President Tinubu frowned at an attempt to distract the efforts at entrenching democratic culture in the region through the creation the ‘Alliance of the Sahel States’ among military-run member-states.
International
Zambia’s Hichilema leads presidential vote count
Hichilema had 54.82% or 1,056,812 of the declared votes, figures showed, putting him on track for re-election without a second-round runoff if he keeps the overall majority.
Photo: Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema greets United Party for National Development (UPND) supporters during their election campaign launch in Lusaka, Zambia, June 28, 2026. Credit : REUTERS
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema was well ahead in counting for national elections on Sunday with nearly half the constituencies declared, the electoral commission said.
Reuters reported that Hichilema had 54.82% or 1,056,812 of the declared votes, figures showed, putting him on track for re-election without a second-round runoff if he keeps the overall majority.
His main challenger, Brian Mundubile, was in second place with 43% or 830,841 of the declared votes, with 105 out of 226 constituencies announced by around 1500 GMT.
The presidential vote — held alongside parliamentary and local elections on Thursday — is seen as a test of whether Hichilema’s economic gains since a pandemic-era debt crisis are enough to win him a second term in Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia temporarily halted vote counting on Friday, citing violence against officials and the theft of ballot papers.
International
Millions Rushing To Watch Solar Eclipse in Europe
Mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century.
• Solar Eclipse 2026
Millions of people are turning their gaze skywards in the hope of witnessing one of nature’s greatest spectacles, a rare total solar eclipse, as it sweeps over mainland Europe to briefly turn day into night.
The Moon is first expected to blot out the Sun, leaving only the shimmering glow of its outer corona, in Russia’s remote Arctic north, before parts of Greenland and Iceland are enveloped in the arc of its eerie shadow.
Excitement is highest in Spain, where tourists thronged the streets of normally quiet villages to experience the dramatic natural phenomenon as the eclipse’s narrow path cuts across the Iberian Peninsula from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea in the south.
Mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century.
Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, however, has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1433.
Supplies of special viewing glasses were in high demand as a partial eclipse will be visible for millions more in most of Europe, Canada, the northern United States and northwest Africa.
However, a total eclipse of the Sun is expected to only be visible in a handful of places.
Credit: EURO NEWS
International
Trump cancels 175,000 visas for violations of public safety
The State Department said its continuous-vetting programme is designed to identify visa holders who violate the conditions attached to their visas, commit crimes, defraud Americans or pose public safety risks.
The United States has revoked more than 175,000 visas issued to foreign nationals since President Donald Trump returned to office.
Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025, when he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
The State Department disclosed the figure on Monday, saying most cancellations followed law enforcement encounters involving criminal activity fraud, assault, reckless driving, theft and drug-related offences.
Other cases involved child molestation, fraud, embezzlement and more serious offences including kidnapping, sexual battery, domestic violence and possession of child sexual abuse material.
The State Department said its continuous-vetting programme is designed to identify visa holders who violate the conditions attached to their visas, commit crimes, defraud Americans or pose public safety risks.
It stressed that obtaining a US visa does not guarantee permanent permission to enter the country, describing a US visa as a privilege rather than a right.
Edo House of Assembly Elect New Speaker Idiaye, Hints Why Agbebaku Resign
NDLEA destroys illicit drugs valued at N301bn in Lagos
Pat Utomi Congratulates Adeleke, Says “Voters Can Defeat Rigging”
Tech Expert, Zuckerberg trains with UFC champions, Adesanya, Alexander
Organ Trafficking: Ekweremadu bags 10 years in UK prison
SAINT OBI: Between his marriage and his death
-
Politics7 hours agoKebbi Governor picks new running mate , Ibrahim Augie
-
Politics2 days ago#OsunDecides2026: First Results Emerge as Voting Ends, Collation Begins at Polling Units
-
Politics2 days ago(UPDATED) #OsunDecides2026: INEC Uploads 3,119 of 3,763 Polling Unit Results as Collation Continues
-
Politics3 days agoHAPPENING NOW: Security Beefed up at INEC Office in Osun Ahead of Saturday’s Governorship Election
-
Politics2 days ago#OsunDecides2026: Adeleke Urges Tinubu to Protect Votes During Collation
-
Politics1 day agoBREAKING: INEC declares Adeleke winner of Osun gov poll
-
Politics8 hours ago
Osun poll: ADC’s Salaam, Tambuwal Hail Adeleke for Second Term Win
-
Politics2 days agoOsun Poll: Youths Accuse APC of Vote-Buying in Ejigbo (Video)