The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), an armed opposition group in northern Ethiopia, accused former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo of being impartial to mediate ongoing disputes with the federal government.
In a statement issued on Monday, TPLF said it no longer accept Obasanjo as a mediator, referring him to as impartial”, acting at the behest of the Federal Government. The TPLF currently runs the Tigray regional state of Ethiopia after removing by force the Tadesse Worede-led interim administration in April this year on the grounds that the extension of his term violated the Pretoria Agreement, for which Obasanjo served as chief facilitator.
The TPLF also accused the international community and the African Union (AU) of abandoning the implementation of the Pretoria Peace Agreement which was signed in November 2022, ending the two-year conflict between TPLF forces and Ethiopian national army. According to mediators of the Pretoria Agreement, an estimated 600,000 people died during the war between 2020 and 2022.
One reason cited by the TPLF is that the mediator referenced the Biafra case and the Nigerian Civil War as an example, despite the conflict’s outcome not resulting from a negotiated settlement. The TPLF argued that the Biafra experience brought about”…military encirclement, economic blockade, siege, starvation, catastrophic civilian deprivation, and, ultimately, military defeat.”
Another reason cited by the TPLF for its reservations regarding Obasanjo-led negotiations is that Obasanjo apparently broke a promise. During his visit to Tigray in June 2026, which the TPLF described as an extensive discussion, “he promised to return within one or, at most, two weeks.” However, that did not happen, taking more than two months before he returned to Tigray.
The TPLF said his return to Tigray occurred without notifying TPLF leaders. According to the TPLF, he explained the delay by stating that “Federal Government authorities had instructed him to wait” until the National Dialogue Conference was completed.
The TPLF said his arrival in Tigray this month occurred “without prior notice, without concrete proposals, and without a clearly defined agenda. His most recent engagement was no different: it produced neither tangible movement toward peace nor specific issues around which meaningful negotiations could proceed.” The TPLF stated that “a credible peace dialogue requires an impartial and independent mediator!”
MG/abj/APA