President Bala Tinubu has been re-elected as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS on Sunday.
DAILY GIST reports that his re-election comes barely one year he took over the leadership of the regional bloc.
Tinubu was elected last year as chairman at the 63rd ordinary session of the ECOWAS in Bissau, the capital city of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
He was however, re-elected during the 65th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
That event took place at the Presidential Villa in Nigeria’s Abuja capital on Sunday.
During his opening remark at the summit, President Tinubu urged ECOWAS member states to make financial commitments to help in the battle against terrorism in the region.
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,” he told the gathering.
“We must therefore ensure that we meet the expectations and recommendations set forth by our ministers of defence and finance in order to counter the insecurity and stabilise our region. Member states must make extra commitments to providing resources for stabilising the region.”
ECOWAS has been hit by a wave of coups in member nations recently.
Niger Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso have been taken over by junta leaders.
The president initially took a strong stance against unconstitutional changes of government in 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 resolve the issues.
Earlier, DAILY GIST reported that the military leaders of Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali said they are not returning back to ECOWAS.
The trio said they have “irrevocably turned their backs” on ECOWAS and have instead formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
During the AES maiden summit on Saturday in the Nigerien capital of Niamey, Niger Republic’s military leader Abdourahamane Tiani accused ECOWAS of incompetence in tackling jihadists’ incursion into the region.
“Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” Tiani insisted.
