The ECOWAS Court of Justice will on December 7, deliver its ruling on interim measures in a case between the State of Niger and seven others, and the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS and two others.
The Court had set the date after listening to both parties during its sitting held on Monday, November 20, 2023 at its Seat in FCT, Abuja.
At the hearing, the applicants represented by their lawyers, Mr Moukaila Yaye, and five other individuals had argued that the sanctions imposed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS have had unfavourable effect on the Nigerien people, of which their hardships includes food scarcity, and medicine and electricity shortages, due to the closure of borders and the shutting off of power supply by Nigeria.
They asked the Court for temporary court orders that will force the Authority of Heads of State and Government to instantly postpone the sanctions.
The respondents including the Authority of Heads of State, the Mediation and Security Council, and the ECOWAS Commission represented by Mr François Kanga-Penond had suggested an objection of inadmissibility of the application and had appealed to the Court to reject the request of the applicants.
In the initiating application, the applicants: the State of Niger, six Nigerien organisations and a Nigerien national had appealed to the Court to announce the measures taken by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS during the extraordinary sessions of July 30 and August 10, 2023, purportedly aimed at bringing back constitutional order in the Republic of Niger, as unlawful.
They also appealed to the Court to cancel all decisions of these ECOWAS organs enforcing sanctions, including the decision to resort to military intervention in the Republic of Niger.
The panel of three judges on the bench is comprised of: Honorable Judge Edward Amoako Asante, as President; Honorable Judge Gbéri-bè Ouattara, as Judge Rapporteur/Memberand Honorable Judge Dupe Atoki, as Member.
