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Tag: ECOWAS leaders

  • AU Appointments: ECOWAS leaders step down their candidates for Buhari’s choice

    AU Appointments: ECOWAS leaders step down their candidates for Buhari’s choice

    The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government have agreed to step down their candidates for Commissioner for Peace and Security in the African Union in favour of a Nigerian candidate as requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Nigeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama disclosed this to state house correspondents on Tuesday after the closed door virtual extraordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Mr Onyeama wants Nigerians to recognize the gesture as a sign of the great respect African leaders have for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He also stated that the choice of candidate for the Head of the African Union from the ECOWAS block would also favour the candidate of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Top on the agenda for the meeting was the selection of a chairperson for the African Union for the 2022-2023 tenure and a proposed mechanism for designation of countries in the coming years, a review of the report of the council of ministers on the harmonization of member states applications for positions in international organizations and the status of the implementation of ECOWAS institutional reforms.

  • WTO: ECOWAS leaders heed Buhari’s request, declare support for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

    WTO: ECOWAS leaders heed Buhari’s request, declare support for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

    Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s request, Presidents of West African countries have reiterated their support to the victory of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the only candidate supported by the sub-region for the position of Director-General of the World Trade organization.

    They also urged Africa to unite behind her candidacy as the continent’s best option in the hotly contested race.

    In a statement made available to The Nation, ECOWAS leaders expressed the strong show of support during the 57th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which took place recently hold in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

    The event which held at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre Niamey considered reports form the 44th Ordinary Session of the Mediation and Security Council at the Ministerial Level and the 84th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, which preceded the Summit, among others.

    According to the Presidents who spoke at the event, the focus of the sub-region is to persuade other African countries to support Nigeria’s highly respected pick for the position, one of five candidates who recently scaled the first stage of the WTO leadership hurdle.

    The expression of support follows the endorsement of Okonjo-Iweala by the sub-regional body in June anchored on the former World Bank Managing Director’s track record of high performance and leadership in top positions.

    According to the ECOWAS Presidents, Okonjo-Iweala is eminently qualified to head the WTO based on her “long years of managerial experience at the top echelon of multilateral institutions, her reputation as a fearless reformer, her excellent negotiating and political skills, her experience of over 30 years as a developmental economist with a long-standing interest in trade, her excellent academic qualification, her position as Managing Director World Bank, and currently as Board Chair, Gavi, and AU Special Envoy to mobilize financial resources for the fight against COVID-19.’’

  • Guarantee credible elections, resist urge to elongate tenure, Buhari counsels ECOWAS leaders

    Guarantee credible elections, resist urge to elongate tenure, Buhari counsels ECOWAS leaders

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday appealed to ECOWAS leaders to resist the urge to elongate their tenure in office beyond constitutional limits.

    The president made this comment while presenting Nigeria’s General Statement at the 57th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Niamey, Niger Republic today.

    Buhari urged his colleagues to respect constitutional provisions and ensure free and fair elections.

    According to him, it is “important that as leaders of our individual Member-States of ECOWAS, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits. This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region.

    “As it is, the challenges facing the sub-region are enormous; from socio-economic matters to security issues, the ECOWAS sub-region cannot, therefore, afford another political crisis, in the guise of tenure elongation.

    ”I urge us all to resist the temptation of seeking to perpetuate ourselves in power beyond the constitutional provisions.

    “I commend those in our midst that have resisted such temptations, for they will be deemed exceptional role models in their respective countries and the sub-region as a whole.

    “Related to this call for restraint is the need to guarantee free, fair and credible elections. This must be the bedrock for democracy to be sustained in our sub-region, just as the need for adherence to the rule of law” he added.

  • Photos: Jonathan, ECOWAS leaders arrive Mali moments after explosion

    Photos: Jonathan, ECOWAS leaders arrive Mali moments after explosion

    ECOWAS’ special envoy led by Nigeria’s former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has arrived Mali for talks with the military junta that has overthrown the elected government of the nation.

    The delegation arrived hours after four Malian soldiers were killed in an explosion near the Burkina Faso border, underscoring the insecurity in the troubled nation.

    The ECOWAS delegation, headed by Jonathan, arrived at the international airport in the capital, Bamako, just hours after four Malian soldiers were killed near the Burkina Faso border when an explosive device detonated as their vehicle drove by, according to a military source.

    The explosion in the central Koro region came days after rebel soldiers seized President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after a mutiny, dealing another blow to a country struggling with a brutal Islamist insurgency and widespread public discontent over its government.

    Mali’s neighbours have called for Keïta to be reinstated, saying the purpose of the delegation’s visit was to help “ensure the immediate return of constitutional order”.

    France 24 quoted an ECOWAS delegation official as saying that they would meet members of the junta and later Keïta, who is being held with Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cissé in Kati, a military base northwest of Bamako where the coup was unleashed.

    Also, Jonathan, on his twitter handle said “We arrived in Bamako this afternoon to continue with the ECOWAS mediation & peace talks towards resolving Mali’s political crisis & restoring normalcy in this beautiful West African country. We’ll continue to engage Malian stakeholders until lasting peace is found.”

    Adding to the international pressure, the US on Friday suspended military aid to Mali, with no further training or support of the Mali armed forces.

    “Let me say categorically there is no further training or support of Malian armed forces full-stop. We have halted everything until such time as we can clarify the situation,” the US Sahel envoy J. Peter Pham told journalists.

    The US regularly provides training to soldiers in Mali, including several of the officers who led the coup. It also offers intelligence support to France’s Barkhane forces, who are fighting jihadist groups in the Sahel region.