President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting with leaders of West African nations at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
The Extraordinary Summit aimed to address majorly the exit of Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Tinubu, who chairs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, is appealing to the leaders of Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger to reconsider their exit from the regional bloc.
Read Also:
Speaking at the summit, Tinubu commended the leaders of the Nations who graced the summit, noting that their presence shows their commitment to regional integration and Peace, security, stability and socio-economic development in African countries.
“Once more, we are gathered here to address pressing developments in our sub-region surrounding the peace and security as well as the political situations in the Republics of Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali. We must approach these issues with a sense of unity and commitment to the well-being of our people,” Tinubu said.
“Permit me to say that the complexities of the issues at hand necessitate a comprehensive and collaborative approach. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon us to engage in constructive dialogue, exercise prudent judgement, and work collectively towards finding enduring solutions that will lead to sustainable peace and security and political stability in our region.”
He called for concerted efforts and a deep sense of history to address the issue to achieve unity and stability in West Africa.
“In the course of this Summit, therefore, we would receive a Memorandum from the ECOWAS Commission President on the peace, security and political situation in the region. The Memorandum will give us an update on the current situation in the Republics of Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger,” he said.
He noted that the decisions at the meeting must be guided by our commitment to safeguarding the constitutional order, upholding democratic principles, and promoting the social and economic well-being of the citizens of the aforementioned countries.
“Furthermore, we will deliberate on the announced withdrawal from ECOWAS by the Republics of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. In the spirit of collective security and African solidarity, we realise that the stability of these nations is intricately linked to the overall peace and security of West Africa.
“As such, it is pertinent that we engage in constructive deliberations to examine the actions taken by these countries and ensure that the citizens are not denied the benefits derived from our regional integration initiatives. In our ensuing discussions, we must put the plight of people, the ordinary citizens at the centre of our decisions.”
He added that the decision by the Constitutional Council of Senegal to annul the postponement of the electoral process is a matter that also demands the attention of the ECOWAS leadership.
“We commend our brother Macky Sall for agreeing to abide by the Court’s decision to organise election as soon as possible and to step down in line with the rule of law. We must all commend his courage and statesmanship as we wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” he said.
He called for the cooperation of the nations to promote economic integration, democracy, and human rights to achieve sustainable development across all the member states.
Tinubu urged the nations who exited to re-consider their decisions and not to perceive ECOWAS as the enemy.
The ICIR reported that Nigeria will likely face more security and economic challenges following the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger as the country’s fight against insurgency and dwindling economy bite harder.
The three countries were sanctioned by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for enforcing a military regime and severing diplomatic ties with France, their colonial masters.
They officially took a sovereign decision on Sunday, January 28, to pull out their nations from ECOWAS.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.