The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has re-elected President
Bola Tinubu will serve for another year as Chairman.
He was due to step down Tuesday at the end of his initial one-year tenure.
But meeting at the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Sunday, the Authority decided to give him another year in office.
Speaking at the end of the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority, President Tinubu accepted the task of his re-election, promising to serve his utmost best.
“Having a new mandate, I will request Faye of Senegal to please become our special envoy alongside Tuggur, to do round-the-clock work with our brothers and Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and coordinate with me, if necessary, and with the commission.
In his acceptance speech, President Tinubu said he would continue to work with other elements within to sustain the democratic values and structures of the community.
“Thank you very much. There’s no need for long speeches any more now that I’ve accepted to continue in the service with great members and great minds that are committed to democratic values and journeys for us in the region.
“I’ll continue to do my utmost to serve our interests and build on the democratic values and structure that we inherited,” he said.
President Tinubu announced that the President of Senegal, Bassirou Faye, will serve as Special Envoy of the ECOWAS Commission to mediate with the leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
The countries had announced their exit from the community last year.
According to Tinubu, Faye will run the new task alongside Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar.
Tinubu was unanimously endorsed as chairman in July 2023 at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Since then, the Nigerian leader has dealt with challenges, particularly military coups in member states.
The president initially took a strong stance against unconstitutional changes of government in the Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea, overseeing the imposition of sanctions on them.
However, the sanctions were later lifted as the sub-regional body opted for a more peaceful approach to resolving the issues.
The president played a critical role in ensuring the success of the 2024 Senegalese election by facilitating dialogue between stakeholders.
This was as he demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting democracy in the subregion during the year.
President Tinubu now joins the ranks of a few other West African leaders who have served more than one term as the chairman of the Authority.
They include Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Togo) who served in 1977–1978 and again in 1980–1981; Dawda Jawara (The Gambia) who served in 1989–1990 and again in 1991–1992; Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria) who served in 1985 and again from 2018–2019; and Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso) who served in 1990–1991 and again in 2007–2008.
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