Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo made an unannounced visit to Côte d’Ivoire, arriving late on Saturday for a private meeting with the country’s defiant president in a final effort to get him to cede power after losing the recent election.
The purpose of Obasanjo’s visit was confirmed by an adviser to the internationally recognised winner of the November ballot, and an Associated Press reporter was present when the Nigerian arrived at the luxury Pullman Hotel surrounded by bodyguards. He declined to comment and was whisked away to his suite on the hotel’s ninth floor, where he spent about an hour before re-emerging to head to the presidential palace.
The United Nations special representative to Côte d’Ivoire, Choi Young-jin, who met Obasanjo inside the hotel, told the Associated Press the Nigerian leader had made the unexpected trip to “discuss the post-electoral crisis”.
The international community has been unanimous in recognising opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the election, because the results were certified by the United Nations which observed the vote and reviewed the tally sheets.
Hotel sealed
The incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo has refused to leave the presidential palace, insisting that he won. The country’s constitutional council headed by a Gbagbo loyalist overturned Ouattara’s victory by cancelling the vote from the north of the country, Ouattara’s stronghold.
In the past week, Gbagbo’s troops have sealed the exits to the hotel where Ouattara is holed up, cutting him off. Reporters and diplomats, as well as provisions, are brought in to him via a UN helicopter that lands on the hotel’s lawn.
So far four African presidents have come in to see Gbagbo, including most recently on Monday, but all attempts at mediation have failed. He is now being threatened by the 15-member regional bloc of West African countries known as Ecowas, which has warned that if he does not step down he could face a military ouster.
A close adviser to Ouattara who was aware of the visit said that Obasanjo is coming to carry a message from the government of Nigeria, whose current president is the chair of Ecowas. The bloc is scheduled to meet in coming days to decide whether or not to go ahead with a military intervention.
The adviser said that Obasanjo — a former military ruler who is famous for being the first in Africa to voluntarily transfer power to an elected government — carries weight when matters of force are in question.
“In diplomacy you can say things very nicely. Or you can say it by being mean. He is here to say it in the mean way,” said the senior aide to Ouattara, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
With every passing weeks since the election, the international community has escalated the pressure on Gbagbo, including slapping a travel ban on him and 50 of his closest associates. The move keeps them from traveling to Europe and the United States.
He has turned his back on the world, and even refused to take telephone calls from US President Barack Obama, who tried at least twice to call him from Air Force One.
Experts say the only way to make him leave may be through force, but observers question whether the military arm of Ecowas has the manpower and the sophistication to carry out a so-called “decapitation strike”. A second issue is whether Ecowas will go ahead with a move that could lead to mass casualties.
The lynchpin in the decision is Nigeria, which has one the largest standing forces in the region and whose troops have been sent to intervene in other regional conflicts including during the Liberian civil war. – Sapa-AP