Niger’s military Junta have named the former Economy and Finance Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, as the country’s new Prime Minister.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the spokesman for the military junta, Colonel Major Amadou Adramane, made the announcement on television late Monday night.
Zeine was formerly the minister of economy and finance for several years in the cabinet of then-President Mamadou Tandja, ousted in 2010, and most recently worked as an economist for the African Development Bank in Chad.
Recall that, on July 26, the military ousted the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and suspended the constitution in the West African country.
Following the development, the Economic Community of West African States asked the military rulers to relinquish power to Bazoum or face stiff sanctions in seven days, starting from July 30.
However, the ultimatum from ECOWAS to the coup plotters to reinstate Bazoum expired on Sunday, August 6, hence the closure of airspace by the coup leaders.
Following the expiration of the ultimatum, the Heads of State and Governments of the ECOWAS member states, Bola Tinubu, has scheduled another meeting in Abuja on Thursday to discuss how to proceed with the Niger situation.
