Buhari to attend ECOWAS summit in Ghana

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja for Accra, Ghana, on Saturday to attend the 59th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

He said the mid-year statutory meeting of ECOWAS would be attended by all members states except Mali, which was recently suspended by the sub-regional body.

Shehu said: “Former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, ECOWAS Special Envoy and Mediator to Mali, is expected to present a report on his latest working visit to the West African country to the Summit of the Heads of State.

“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.

“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 at the Ministerial Level and the 86th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, in Accra, Ghana.

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“The MSC, comprising of Ministers responsible for defence and foreign affairs from the 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.”

The President will be accompanied on the trip by five ministers – Geoffrey Onyema (Foreign Affairs), Zubairu Dada (Minister of State, Foreign Affairs), Major Gen. Bashir Magashi (Defence), Osagie Ehanire (Health) and Zainab Ahmed (Finance, Budget and National Planning).

Others are the National Security Adviser, Major Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd); Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Abubakar.

The President is expected back in Abuja at the end of the Summit.

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