By Abbanobi – Eku Onyekachi, Abuja
Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan has tasked the defence chiefs of the current members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to ensure the sustenance of democracy within the subregion, according to a press release from his Media Adviser, Dr Ezrel Tabiowo Thursday.
The membership of the ECOWAS was previously constituted by 15 countries, which included: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
However, in 2024, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali announced their withdrawal from the bloc, following their suspension from ECOWAS due to military takeovers of their respective governments. Consequently, the development reduced the number of ECOWAS member states to 12.
Speaking at the 42nd Ordinary Meeting of ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staffs, which held in Abuja, on Wednesday, at the Defence Headquarters, Senator Lawan commended the Defence Chiefs in attendance for ensuring the safety of member states.
He underscored the need for the respective parliaments to support ECOWAS through the approval and provision of resources needed to guarantee the security of countries in the West African subregion. Senator Lawan, who currently Chairs the Senate Committee on Defence, further tasked the Defence Chiefs on working to ensure that democracy is returned to countries taken over by military regimes.
Senator Lawan, while thanking ECOWAS for re-electing President Bola Tinubu as Chairman of the bloc at the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, said that the National Assembly will continue to prioritise issues of security, as well as give its full support to all institutions of ECOWAS within its borders to reciprocate the support extended to Nigeria by member states.
“Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank ECOWAS as a body for giving a second mandate to our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for an additional year. We believe that it is because of the trust that ECOWAS countries have in the president, that is why he has been given this,”
