ECOWAS: Tinubu begins new mandate, tasked to return break-away States

• Urged member-States connected gathering fiscal commitments
• Offers Nigeria’s counter-terrorism centre for usage by region
• ‘ECOWAS needs security, stableness to execute potential’
• Bloc risks disintegration if junta-led States leave, Touray warns
• Report: Sit-tight leaders successful 24 countries made 35 law amendments successful 21 years

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), yesterday, renewed the mandate of President Bola Tinubu to stay arsenic its Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.

This came up astatine the 65th Ordinary Session, held astatine the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

President Tinubu’s one-year tenure arsenic Chairman of the Authority would person elapsed tomorrow.

In his acceptance speech, Tinubu appointed the President of Senegal, Bassirou Faye, to articulation successful the mediation to bring backmost the leaders of Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad who had exited the bloc.

President Faye, according to Tinubu, would tally the caller task alongside Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar.

He said: “Having a caller mandate, I volition petition Faye of Senegal to delight go our peculiar envoy alongside Tuggar, to bash round-the-clock enactment with our brothers Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and coordinate with me, if necessary, and with the commission.”

President Tinubu said: “Now that I’ve accepted to proceed successful the work with large members and large minds that are committed to antiauthoritarian values successful the region, I’ll proceed my utmost champion to service our interests and physique connected the antiauthoritarian values and the operation that we inherited.”

Tinubu called connected Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS to enactment towards the constitution and sustenance of a determination standby unit for the information and economical advancement of the community.

Speaking during the opening of the 65th Ordinary Session, Tinubu highlighted the expediency of specified a unit successful the look of increasing information threats.

“The Regional Action Plan against Terrorism has enhanced practice connected training, quality sharing, and humanitarian interventions. In summation to this, the Ministers of Finance and Defence met precocious successful Abuja to rise funds for activating the ECOWAS Standby Force to boost counter-terrorism efforts.

“Member countries are besides displaying their committedness to combating insecurity by individually expanding their defence budgets to get indispensable instrumentality and guarantee preparedness,’’ the President said.

Nevertheless, Tinubu urged subordinate states to perpetrate much to providing needed resources for securing the region.

“Let maine underscore that a peaceful and unafraid nine is indispensable for achieving our potential. As we determination to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) successful combating terrorism, I indispensable emphasise that the occurrence of this program requires not lone beardown governmental volition but besides important fiscal resources.

“We must, therefore, guarantee that we conscionable the expectations and recommendations acceptable distant by our Ministers of Defence and Finance to antagonistic insecurity and stabilise our region,’’ the President added.

Tinubu advised ECOWAS leaders to leverage the capabilities of Nigeria’s National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which has been wide acknowledged arsenic 1 of the champion connected the continent.

The President said his authorities decided to marque the NCTC a determination centre to alteration each ECOWAS subordinate states to payment from capableness gathering and different related opportunities it offers.

While calling for unity wrong the community, the President emphasised that to elevate the radical from poorness to prosperity, it is imperative for ECOWAS to make innovative approaches to unleash the region’s immense economical potential.

“We indispensable proceed to place and make partnerships that beforehand concern successful cardinal sectors and beforehand determination trade. Furthermore, we indispensable put successful our infrastructure and cultivate a suitable concern situation to empower our communities to stimulate maturation and physique resilience against outer shocks. Together, we tin pave the mode for a prosperous aboriginal for each of West Africa,’’ the President said.

Tinubu besides called for enactment successful the re-election of Ambassador Bankole Adeoye arsenic AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security successful February 2025.

Also, welcoming the caller subordinate of the Authority, Senegalese President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Tinubu extended “warm congratulations to the authorities and radical of the Republic of Senegal for their steadfastness successful the consolidation of antiauthoritarian governance.”

He added: “Their precocious concluded statesmanlike predetermination has been wide judged arsenic free, fair, transparent, and credible. This accomplishment is simply a testament to our region’s committedness to the principles of democracy, bully governance, and regularisation of law.”

IN his remarks, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, applauded President Tinubu’s purposeful leadership, affirming that the bloc should not beryllium defined by conflicts, elections, and coup d’états, but by development.

Touray said the exiting of ECOWAS by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger could impact citizens of the countries, and different ECOWAS subordinate states successful the country of visas, and the reappraisal of each commercialized and improvement agreements, including ongoing determination projects successful those countries.

Touray said the portion has proven that ideology is alive, fixed the palmy modulation successful Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia, successful caller times.

He said: “We look guardant to the consolidation of this inclination successful the portion arsenic we hole for a large predetermination successful Ghana aboriginal this year.”

He nevertheless warmed that the portion was inactive being confronted by multidimensional challenges, which look to overshadow humble achievements.

“Our portion is inactive confronted with aggregate interlocking threats, including existential ones. This includes climatic and man-made crises, starring to coercion and convulsive extremism and nutrient insecurity. Livelihoods proceed to beryllium threatened by amerciable and unsustainable exploitation of our land, wood and marine resources.

“Governance shortage and marginalisation person strained societal contracts, engendering bitter rivalries and unhealthy competition. To complicate the situation, our portion has go the arena of geo-strategic and geo-political rivalries and the theatre of misinformation and disinformation that engender mistrust among and wrong communities and undermine societal cohesion.”

HEADS of ECOWAS began their acme successful Abuja without their counterparts from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The 3 had, connected Saturday, July 6, formally inaugurated their ain radical which they named Sahel Alliance.

The subject rulers took the measurement a time earlier ECOWAS was to statesman its ain meeting.

This was successful spite of the main absorption of the acme being to sermon ways to pacify the rebelling three, aft respective West African leaders called for a resumption of dialog with them.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their pact, known arsenic the Alliance of Sahel States, past September.

The 3 countries committed to practice successful the lawsuit of outer aggression against them.

They near ECOWAS successful January aft the determination assemblage moved against the respective subject governments that toppled constituted antiauthoritarian enactment successful the countries.

Speaking during their acme successful Niamey connected Saturday, Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tchiani described ECOWAS arsenic a menace to the military-led countries.

He said the 3 would tally an confederation escaped of overseas power for their people.

Burkina Faso had its coup, toppling the civilian ideology successful place, successful September 2022; Mali successful August 2021; and Niger successful July 2023.

The Economic Community of West African States said yesterday that the portion risked disintegration and worsening insecurity aft junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger made wide their intentions to permission the bloc by signing a confederation treaty.

Touray said state of question and a communal marketplace of 400 cardinal radical were immoderate of the large benefits of the adjacent 50-year-old bloc, but that these were nether menace if the 3 countries left.

Funding of economical projects worthy implicit $500 cardinal successful Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger could besides beryllium stopped oregon suspended, Touray told the summit.

He said: “Considering these benefits, it is evident that disintegration volition not lone disrupt the state of question and colony of people, but it volition besides worsen insecurity successful the region.”

The 3 countries’ withdrawal volition beryllium a large stroke to information cooperation, peculiarly successful presumption of quality sharing and information successful the combat against terrorism, helium noted.

MEANWHILE, a study by the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) has revealed that betwixt 2002 and 2023, determination person been 35 amendments to constitutions successful 24 Africa countries by leaders seeking to widen their enactment successful power.

The study pointed retired that the amendments were palmy successful 29 cases successful 18 countries but failed successful lone six cases successful 5 countries.

Advocacy Officer, WADEMOS, Austin Aigbe, successful the presumption disclosed that 26 palmy subject coups person occurred successful Africa, with 13 occurring successful West Africa, 12 successful Central Africa, 4 successful Northern Africa, Eastern Africa experiencing three, and 1 successful Southern Africa.

“Since 2019, 10 palmy subject coups person occurred successful 7 countries successful Africa. In West Africa, law manipulation of word limits has taken spot successful Côte d’Ivoire (2020), Guinea (2020), and Togo (2019/2024), causing unit owed to protestation and closing of the abstraction for competitory electoral politics,” helium said.