Escalation: TPLF Rejects Obasanjo As Mediator

On September 6, Tigray’s ruling party said it will not accept former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo as mediator for renewed talks with Ethiopia’s federal government, arguing he lacks independence and impartiality. It said it remains committed to negotiations but wants a different mediator acceptable to both sides. That means any new talks with Addis Ababa would need a new facilitator to proceed.

In the same statement, the party said the 2022 ceasefire’s implementation has stalled. It accused the federal side of maintaining an economic blockade, surrounding Tigray with troops, conducting drone surveillance and strikes, and attacking Tigray forces near Shererina in western Tigray.

Tigrayan authorities also faulted Obasanjo’s conduct. They said he visited Mekelle in June, promised to return within one to two weeks, but did not come back for nearly two months, explaining the delay as a request from federal authorities to wait until the National Dialogue Conference ended. When he returned on August 24 for an unannounced meeting with Tigray’s leader Debretsion Gebremichael, they said he brought no concrete proposals, and they rejected his public references to Nigeria’s Biafran war as a model for Ethiopia’s crisis.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources