The deposed 14th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, has spoken with the coup plotters in the Niger Republic.

After the junta called off a meeting with officials of the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), and a prominent US ambassador, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) met with the military leadership.

A delegation sent by ECOWAS was unable to mediate a settlement with the military authorities because they refused to meet.

However, videos of Sanusi, whose Tijjaniya sect has a sizable following in Niger, started to circulate on Wednesday.

The sect’s Khalifa in Nigeria is Sanusi.

The famous Nigerian economist and the Sultan of Damagaran met the Junta officials in the third-largest city in Niger, Damagaran.

According to sources cited by Daily Trust, Sanusi traveled there to pave the way for talks with the junta.

According to one of the individuals, “His Highness took the trip in his personal capacity but with the knowledge of President Bola Tinubu following his concerns about the impasse and the likely consequences it is already having on /Nigeria relations and the citizens of the two countries.”

The gathering takes place the day before the ECOWAS leaders’ summit in Abuja.

The ECOWAS summit was scheduled for Thursday after the seven-day deadline for President Mohamed Bazoum’s reinstatement had passed. President Bola Tinubu serves as the organization’s chairman.

ECOWAS had imposed harsh sanctions on Niger and threatened to use force, but this action was roundly condemned, especially in Nigeria.