THE LEADERSHIP of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Sunday night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has set up a committee to study and make a full report on Nigeria’s land border closure with her neighbours.

The decision to set up the committee was agreed at an extraordinary session of ECOWAS leaders convened on the margins of the 33rd AU Summit to discuss the issue and other pressing regional matters.

The committee would be headed by President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso.

Femi Adesina Special Adviser Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that the Nigerian Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced the setting up of the committee while briefing journalists after a three-hour closed-door session.

Onyeama disclosed that the meeting attended by president Buhari and chaired by the ECOWAS Chairman, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, also discussed West Africa′s new single currency, the Eco, and the situation in Guinea Bissau after the presidential election.

Speaking on the border closure, Onyeama said: ‘‘The President of Burkina Faso is charged with undertaking a full study of the situation, make a report and then we would take it from there.’’

When asked when the report will be presented to ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, he replied: ‘‘As soon as possible, there are no timelines but he (Roch Marc Christian Kabore), is supposed to start immediately, study the situation from all the affected countries and present his report.’’

On the Eco currency, the minister said: ‘‘Nothing has changed in respect of Nigeria’s position’’.

He added that Nigeria’s position was that the convergence criteria have not been met by the majority of the countries, therefore there has to be an extension of time on the take-off of the single currency.

On Guinea Bissau, the Minister said ECOWAS leaders recognized that there was an appeal of the presidential election result and they are waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter.