President Buhari to attend ECOWAS summit in Niger on Monday

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja Monday for Niamey, Niger Republic to participate in the Fifty-Seventh Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

The President is expected to participate in a one-day summit which will deliberate on the Special Report on COVID-19 to be presented by President Buhari who was appointed the ECOWAS Champion on the Fight against COVID-19 during the Extraordinary Virtual Summit of ECOWAS on April 23, 2020.

As the ECOWAS Champion in the fight against COVID-19, the President is expected to coordinate the sub-regional response against the pandemic.

The statement further stated that “In furtherance of that objective, under the supervision of the Champion, Nigerian Ministers of Health, Aviation and Finance were appointed Chairpersons of the Ministerial Coordination Committees on Health; Transport, Logistics and Trade; and Finance respectively”.

The increasing rate of terrorism, armed banditry and the democratic process by the military in Mali, will also be discussed at the submit.

President Buhari will be accompanied to the Summit by ministers and other top government officials, who will return to Abuja after the meeting.

“At the submit, a Special Report will be received on the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme to be presented by President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone and Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), and President Alassane Ouattara, who is Chair of the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU/UEMOA).

Also the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean Claude Kassi Brou will present to the West African leaders, the 2020 Interim Report on activities of the sub-regional body including ECOWAS Vision 2050.

“Similarly, in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Niger where parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled for this year, the imperative to strengthen democracy in the sub-region by respecting constitutional provisions, rule of law and outcomes of free and fair polls, will be emphasised,” the statement added.