The Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Sunday at the 68th Ordinary Session of the Authority of ECOWAS Leaders, agreeing to forge a united front to put an end to the spread of military coups, terrorism and other forms of insecurity across the region.
The meeting, coming amid series of military takeovers in the Sahel, also agreed that the bloc would shift from reactive sanctions to preemptive military and diplomatic interventions.
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, who read the highlights of the communiqué, outlined far-reaching decisions on regional security, democratic governance and institutional leadership.
Touray said the summit, attended by Heads of State, Vice Presidents and Ministers from all member-States, reviewed the community’s 2025 Annual Report and assessed peace and security developments across West Africa.
According to him, the authority recognised the “relative stability and resilience” of the region, commended the conduct of recent Presidential and general elections in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d’Ivoire and welcomed preparations by Benin ahead of its forthcoming polls.
He said the authority also acknowledged progress in Sierra Leone in implementing the Agreement for National Unity between the government and the opposition All Peoples Congress.
On The Gambia, ECOWAS expressed grave concern over statements made from exile by former President Yahya Jammeh, warning that the pronouncements breached the conditions of his asylum in Equatorial Guinea and posed a threat to peace, security and social cohesion.
Touray said the authority stressed that the joint ECOWAS-African UnionUnited Nations declaration preceding Jammeh’s departure did not absolve him of accountability for allegations of human rights violations committed during his rule between 1994 and 2016.
The authority also condemned democratic setbacks in the region, denouncing the coup in Guinea-Bissau as a subversion of the will of the electorate and condemned the attempted coup in Benin.
The meeting applauded the swift intervention of the ECOWAS Standby Force, alongside national forces from Benin, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Sierra Leone, describing the action as a demonstration of regional solidarity.
The authority authorised the ECOWAS military mission in Guinea-Bissau to protect political leaders and national institutions, mandated the chair of the authority to lead a fresh high-level mission to Bissau and directed the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff to engage the military authorities.
The communique reads in part: “The authority insists that failure to comply with its decisions will attract targeted sanctions against individuals or groups obstructing the return to constitutional order,” adding that ECOWAS had called on the African Union and international partners to support its efforts.
The summit also reshaped the region’s institutional leadership ahead of the end of the current commission’s mandate in July. 2026.
To this end, Senegal was named to assume the presidency of the ECOWAS Commission, with Nigeria as vice president.
Other statutory portfolios were allocated to Sierra Leone (political affairs, peace and security), Liberia (economic affairs and agriculture), Côte d’Ivoire (internal services), Ghana (infrastructure, energy and digitalisation) and Benin (human development and social affairs).
ECOWAS also endorsed Ghana’s candidature for chairperson of the African Union in 2027 and indicated that Liberia would assume the ECOWAS Commission presidency between 2030 and 2034 subject to meeting required criteria.
Meanwhile, the immediate past Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria; represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the session tagged: “Special Debate on the Future of the Community”, listed incessant coups, transnational organised crime, arms proliferation, cyber insecurity, climate shocks, food insecurity and irregular migration as crises in the region that must be tackled collectively, noting that such forms of criminality had no respect for borders.
Shettima, while speaking during the opening of the session, acknowledged that member states disagreed just like all families contested ideas and tested one another’s patience, pointing out, however, that disagreements and sibling rivalry did not erase belonging or annul shared blood.
President Tinubu reaffirmed what he described as Nigeria’s “proven fidelity” to the ideals of ECOWAS and the nation’s “unwavering commitment to collective action in defence of ” the region’s common future.
The Nigerian leader said the position of Nigeria and the abiding conviction demonstrated by his actions had consistently signalled that the region’s “unity is not transactional, but foundational”, adding that “fraternity, not force, must define the future” of ECOWAS.
On his part, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, thanked President Tinubu and the Federal Government of Nigeria for hosting the session, just as he applauded Nigeria’s win-win leadership across the region.
President Bio described the ECOWAS 68th ordinary of session as a defining moment for ECOWAS and a turning point for over 400 million West Africans.
He also disclosed that beginning from January, 2026, ECOWAS would implement a landmark measure to reduce the cost of air travel across the region.
Under this agreement, the ECOWAS chairman said member states would abolish air transport taxes, among other measures.
In his address, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Touray acknowledged the support of various foreign and continental partners to ECOWAS, emphasising however that events of the last few weeks in West Africa had demonstrated what regional solidarity could achieve.
He also announced that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, had accepted to serve as Chairman of the ECOWAS Business Council, a platform that would facilitate dialogue between the private sector and governments for the development of the region.
Also, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, represented by the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, said the session provided an opportunity for stakeholders to scale up coordination and strategic dialogue in advancing democracy and regional stability.
He stressed that the attempted coup in Benin Republic and the associated instability in Guinea-Bissau remained regrettable and “unacceptable to the African Union.”
