December 08, (THEWILL) – The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Niger’s transitional leaders and some corporations, over sanctions imposed on Niger following the July ouster of President Mohammed Bazoum
The application for interim orders was filed along with a substantive case in which Niger and seven other applicants, challenged the legality of sanctions imposed on the country by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
In the substantive application, the applicants had prayed the court to declare the measures taken by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS during its extraordinary sessions of July 30 and August 10, 2023, to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger illegal.
The applicants, through a team of lawyers, led by Moukaila Yaye, argued that the sanctions imposed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS have had adverse effects on the Nigerien people including shortage of food, medicine and electricity, due to the closure of borders and suspension of electricity supply by Nigeria.
They asked the court for interim orders that would compel the Authority of Heads of State and Government to immediately suspend the sanctions.
They further argued that ECOWAS overreacted by imposing the sanctions and that Niger was unequally and unfairly treated compared to three other ECOWAS member states (Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea) that have experienced coup d’états in recent years.
However, in its ruling on Thursday, the two-man court, led by its President, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, held that the application was inadmissible, stating that the applicants including a government instituted by a coup, did not have locus standi to make a case on Niger.
The court, which ruled it suspected there was a convergence of interests between the military junta and the private entities, said they were acting in their own interests.
“An entity that is a product of an unconstitutional change of government, which is not recognised by ECOWAS as the government of a member state, lacks the capacity to bring this case in which it seems to derive benefits”, it held; adding that the substantive application was, on the face of it, inadmissible as it relates to the other applicants within the meaning of Articles 9(2) and 10(c) of the Protocol of the Court.
Justice Dupe Atoki added that the other seven applicants, who the court described as “non-state applicants, suing alongside the Republic of Niger”, failed to provide specific details regarding the nature and extent of the harm suffered by each of them from the measures imposed on Niger.
They argued that the sanctions are causing hardships for millions of Nigeriens. However, the ECOWAS Court of Justice said the military government did not have standing to make a case on behalf of Niger.
