Niger Republic’s military junta has named African Development Bank (AfDB) economist, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, as the new prime minister.
Zeine’s appointment was made as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chaired by Nigeria President Bola Tinubu continue to weigh options between military intervention and peace dialogue to reinstall the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
The junta has insisted that it would resist moves of foreign forces to intervene in her internal affairs.
The junta announced the new appointment on television on Monday night.
According to media reports in Niger, Lamine Zeine was an ex-Minister of Economy and Finance in the cabinet of former President Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted in 2010, and currently works as an economist for the African Development Bank in Chad.
An ultimatum from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the coup plotters to reinstate Bazoum expired over the weekend.
