Heads of States and leaders of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS, have elected the president of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou, as the new chair of the regional block for a term of one year.
At the 55th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS leaders on Saturday held in Abuja, Mr Mahamadou was elected to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, whose tenure had come to a close.
In a communiqué read by Mustapha Suleiman, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the leaders lauded Mr Buhari for his commitment to regional integration. The leaders also agreed that the next ordinary session on December 21 be held in Abuja.
The Ordinary Session which was attended by 13 out of the 15 heads of States, culminated in the election of the new leadership.
Those that attended the session were as follows; the presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Cape Verde was represented by Julio Cesar Lopes, Minister of Regional Integration and Senegal was represented by Amadou Ba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad.
Also in attendance were president of ECOWAS Commission Jean-Claude Brou and Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel.
Others were president of the International Criminal Court, Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji and Mr Abdallah, president of the Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
The session also featured awards to deserving personalities including a posthumous award for Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofin Anan.
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