President Buhari to attend ECOWAS Mid-Year Summit In Accra


President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to depart Abuja on Saturday (today), to join other Heads of Government of ECOWAS for the mid-year statutory meeting of the regional bloc, with the exception of Mali, which was recently suspended from the group.

ECOWAS Special Envoy and Mediator to Mali, former President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to present a report on his latest working visit to the West African country to the summit of the Heads of State and Government.

The Heads of State and Government will also receive a report on ECOWAS institutional reforms, single-currency programmes and a memorandum on the proposed mechanism of rotation of ECOWAS member states’ candidature to the Chairmanship of the African Union.

A communiqué will be issued at the end of the summit.

The 59th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government was preceded by the 46th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, MSC, at the Ministerial Level and the 86th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, in Accra, Ghana.

The MSC, comprising of Ministers responsible for defence and foreign affairs from ECOWAS member-states, considered the security situation in the ECOWAS Region, among other topical issues on the agenda while the 86th Ordinary Session considered a memorandum on the post-COVID-19 industry recovery plan, the 2021 mid-term report of the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the ongoing institutional reforms at ECOWAS, among others.

President Buhari will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, the National Security Adviser, Maj. General Babagana Monguno, rtd

Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, Minister of Defence, Maj. General Bashir Magashi, rtd, Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

Other ministers who will be going on the trip are , Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar.