Dr Omar Aliou Touray, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, says strategic measures are being taken to resolve the issues around the withdrawal of membership from the bloc by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.
Dr Touray made this known in Abuja at a one-day Extraordinary Session of the Mediation and Security Council of ECOWAS.
The meeting, which aimed at addressing issues that culminated in the recent decision by the three countries to withdraw from the bloc, also delved into Senegal’s pressing electoral situation, as well as the need for regional cooperation.
The separate official notifications by the three countries to withdraw from ECOWAS had wider implications that needed to be addressed, he explained.
“To justify their action, the three countries outlined their grievances with ECOWAS, which include the perceived departure of ECOWAS from the “pan-African ideals of its founding fathers,” the ECOWAS chieftain continued.
“Perceived influence of hostile foreign powers on ECOWAS; a feeling of abandonment by ECOWAS in their fight against terrorism; and the imposition of illegal, illegitimate, inhumane, and irresponsible sanctions by ECOWAS.”
Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is also the Chairman of the Mediation and Security Council, lauded the collaboration among ECOWAS member-states towards sub-regional success, saying it presented substantial opportunities for trade and investment.
He said the meeting provided the opportunity to carefully assess the challenges presented by the decision of the military rulers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic to arbitrarily withdraw from ECOWAS.
Ambassador Tuggar explained that the challenges needed to be addressed amidst the potential implications for the people and, indeed, for the community as a whole, and to review the unfolding situation in Senegal and develop a plan to navigate the resulting complexities.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including CISLAC, have appealed to Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to rescind their decision to withdraw from the regional bloc.
CISLAC also asked ECOWAS to remove all perceived “inhuman sanctions” against the aggrieved countries.
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