The 14th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, has met with the leaders of the military junta in Niger Republic.
Sanusi, who is also a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, met the military leadership after the junta aborted a meeting with representatives of African Union (AU), Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and a top US diplomat.
An ECOWAS delegation could not broker peace with the military rulers as they declined a meeting.
But on Wednesday, footages of Sanusi, whose Tijjaniya sect has a large following in Niger Republic, went viral.
The ex-Emir is the Khalifa of the sect in Nigeria.
The revered Nigerian economist met the Junta leaders in company with the Sultan of Damagaran.
Damagaran is the third largest city in Niger.
It was gathered that Sanusi went to Niger to open the door for negotiation with the junta.
According to a source, “His Highness took the trip in his personal capacity but with the knowledge of President Bola Tinubu following his concerns about the impasse and the likely consequences it is already having on Nigeria/Niger relations and the citizens of the two countries.”
The meeting comes a day before the gathering of ECOWAS leaders in Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS, had scheduled a meeting for Thursday after the 7-day ultimatum that the regional bloc issued for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum elapsed.
ECOWAS had slammed sanctions on Niger and threatened possible military option, a move that was widely rejected, especially in Nigeria.
