Suspended from the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), Niger did not delay in responding.
Based in Paris, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) announced on Wednesday, December 20, the suspension of Niger. This decision was made by the permanent council of the organization the day before during an extraordinary session held via video conference. The sanction was decreed with "immediate effect, except for programs directly benefiting civilian populations and those contributing to the restoration of democracy."
The OIF also called for the immediate and unconditional release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family, as well as the "rapid restoration of constitutional order and democracy in Niger."
In response, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) and the Government of Niger issued a statement on Sunday, December 24, announcing that the authorities of the Nigerien transition have decided to suspend all forms of cooperation with the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).
The Nigerien authorities state in their communiqué that they learned of the said sanctions "by chance" and assert that they respond to the "diktats and interests of France, of which no representative was among the founding fathers."
The CNSP and the Nigerien government recall that the "Agency of Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT)," the precursor of Francophonie, was born on Nigerien soil on March 20, 1970, under the impetus of founding fathers Hamani Diori of Niger, Léopold Sédar Senghor of Senegal, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, and Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. The communiqué also denounces the "variable and double standards" of the OIF.
Through this suspension, the authors of the communiqué add, the organization "discredits" itself and only confirms that "Francophonie has always been used by France as a tool to defend French interests and especially to advance its agenda in Africa."
For the Nigerien authorities, the OIF has become an empty shell.