Sudan Orders Ethiopia’s Gedaref Consulate Closed as South Africans Finish Local Elections

Economic Warfare & Trade Policy › Sanctions

Voting station signage in Cape Town for the 2026 local government elections. Photo: Husskeyy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sudan ordered the closure of Ethiopia’s consulate in Gedaref and gave its diplomats 48 hours to leave, local media reported, citing reciprocity after Ethiopia closed Sudan’s Assosa consulate. South Africans finished voting in hotly contested local elections, and a Nigerian federal court nullified Atiku Abubakar’s African Democratic Congress presidential candidacy.

Key figures: 48 hours deadline sudan gave ethiopian diplomats to leave gedaref, per local media · 29 million registered voters in south africa’s local elections, per iec via anadolu · 28 nigerian state legislatures backing a state-police amendment

Anadolu Agency said Sudanese news site Al-Zawiya Net and broadcaster Tayba TV reported Khartoum’s Gedaref decision Wednesday, citing local media and a Sudanese government source. The reports said the move followed Ethiopia’s closure of Sudan’s Assosa consulate and an order for six Sudanese officials to leave. Ethiopian authorities had not publicly explained Tuesday’s Assosa decision in the opened sources for that earlier window. Sudanese army claims that a hostile strategic drone entered from Ethiopia over Blue Nile state were reported in the same Anadolu package that carried the Gedaref closure; those shoot-down claims are attributed to the Sudanese army and are not independently confirmed here. The tit-for-tat fits a wider deterioration that includes Sudanese army claims of drones entering from Ethiopia and mutual accusations of backing armed groups; those earlier claims are attributed in prior coverage, including yesterday’s Assosa expulsion report.

South Africa local elections

Voting ended after polls ran from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, Anadolu reported. The Independent Electoral Commission said more than 29 million people registered at about 23,700 stations and that about 12 million had cast ballots by 5 p.m. local; completed official results were expected Thursday or Friday. Voters interviewed by Anadolu cited water, sewage and crime. Contenders include the ANC, DA, EFF, IFP and former President Jacob Zuma’s MK Party in its first local contest.

Nigeria: Atiku, Obi and state police

A Federal High Court under Justice Peter Lifu nullified Atiku Abubakar’s presidential candidacy for the African Democratic Congress and invalidated the Mark-led national executive, Anadolu reported. The ADC said it would appeal. Separately, attackers with machetes and sticks smashed windshields on opposition figure Peter Obi’s convoy in Calabar after a palace visit; Cross River State Police said they arrested a 27-year-old suspect, Anadolu reported.

On security governance, 28 state legislatures backed a constitutional amendment to allow state police alongside the federal force, clearing the two-thirds threshold of 24 assemblies; the National Assembly clerk said records were verified for transmission toward President Bola Tinubu, Anadolu reported. The amendment path matters for states that want local forces to answer kidnapping and communal violence that federal police have struggled to contain, Anadolu’s account of the legislative count shows. No AFRICOM release in the opened window updated the U.S. force posture tied to those Nigerian security debates.

AGOA cut for Rwanda and South Africa

Ambassador Jamieson Greer said President Trump notified Congress and the governments of Rwanda and South Africa of his intent to terminate their AGOA eligibility after the annual interagency review, USTR said. Termination, if completed, would take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Full preference-program detail is in today’s AGOA and Economic Outcast trade report. No new U.S. Africa Command public release appeared after a 403 on the AFRICOM press page.

By the numbers

By TBR calculations from the IEC figures via Anadolu, about 41% of registered voters (12 million of 29 million) had cast ballots by the 5 p.m. local update — a partial-day snapshot, not final turnout. The 28 state legislatures backing state police exceed the 24-assembly threshold by four.

Watch for official South African local-election results, any Ethiopian confirmation or denial of the Gedaref closure report, the ADC appeal after Atiku’s nullification, and Pretoria and Kigali responses to the AGOA notice.

Sources

• Anadolu Agency: Sudan orders closure of Ethiopian consulate, gives diplomats 48 hours to leave: Report
• Anadolu Agency: Voting ends in South Africa's hotly contested local elections
• Anadolu Agency: Nigerian court nullifies Atiku’s presidential candidacy, deepening opposition crisis ahead of 2027 vote
• Anadolu Agency: Convoy of Nigerian opposition leader Peter Obi attacked, suspect arrested
• Anadolu Agency: Nigeria moves closer to establishing state police as 28 legislatures back reform
• Office of the United States Trade Representative: Ambassador Greer Issues Statement on President Trump's Intent to Terminate Rwanda and South Africa from the AGOA Trade Preference Program

Additional sources

• U.S. Africa Command press releases page