Coup leaders in Niger have named former finance minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as the country’s new prime minister.
A spokesperson for the military junta, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, made the announcement in a statement read out on National television on Monday evening.
Zeine held the position of cabinet director in 2001, then finance minister in 2002 under former president Mamadou Tandja.
He served as finance minister until Tandja was overthrown in a coup d’état in 2010.
Abdramane also named Lieutenant-Colonel Habibou Assoumane as Niger’s new commander of the presidential guard, FRANCE24 reports.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) had scheduled yet another meeting on the Niger Republic crisis after one-week ultimatum to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum or risk sanctions, including possible military intervention expired on Sunday.
The military leaders in Niger Republic reportedly brought in reinforcements to Naimey, the country's capital in preparation for a possible military invasion in the country by the ECOWAS.
President Bazoum is still being held hostage while the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, the junta’s formal name, is still effectively in charge of Niger.
The military leaders have shut down the country’s airspace due to the threat of military intervention, while there have been tension and perplexity in the Northern region of Nigeria, especially in the states that have borders with Niger.