President Bola Tinubu has been re-elected as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), approximately one year after initially assuming the leadership of the regional organization. Tinubu was first elected to this position in Guinea-Bissau on July 9, 2023.
The Nigerian leader, who came to power in May 2023, was re-elected during the 65th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday.
In his acceptance speech, President Tinubu emphasized his commitment to reinforcing democratic values and advancing the interests of the regional body. He announced the appointment of Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye as a Special Envoy to Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic.
This role will involve collaboration with Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé to engage in continuous diplomatic efforts with the mentioned countries and coordinate with both Tinubu and the ECOWAS Commission as needed.
“I have accepted to continue the service to the great members and the great minds that are committed to democratic values and our journey in the region. I will continue to serve our interests and build on democratic values and the structure that we inherited. Thank you very much,” Tinubu stated.
During his opening remarks at the summit, President Tinubu urged ECOWAS member states to make financial contributions to support the fight against terrorism in the region. He stressed that operationalizing the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) to combat terrorism would require strong political will and substantial financial resources.
“As we move to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) in combating terrorism, I must emphasise that the success of this plan requires not only strong political will but also substantial financial resources,” Tinubu told the assembly.
He highlighted the need for member states to meet the expectations and recommendations of their ministers of defense and finance to address insecurity and stabilize the region. He called for additional commitments from member states to provide the necessary resources for regional stabilization.
In recent years, ECOWAS has faced a series of coups in member nations, with Niger Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso being taken over by junta leaders. In response to these coups, ECOWAS imposed various sanctions, including border closures, on the three nations. Although these sanctions were lifted in February, the countries subsequently exited the regional bloc and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
During the AES’s inaugural summit in Niamey, Niger Republic’s military leader Abdourahamane Tiani accused ECOWAS of failing to effectively address the threat of jihadist incursions in the region.
He asserted that the people of the three countries have “irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS” and declared the AES as the only effective sub-regional group in the fight against terrorism, criticizing ECOWAS for its lack of involvement.
The departure of these countries from ECOWAS marked a shift away from their former colonial ruler, France, with Tiani advocating for the new bloc to become a “community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers.”
