Nigeria's 75 Year Old President Becomes New ECOWAS Chair

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has been elected as the new Chair of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the just concluded ECOWAS Summit in Lome, Togo.

The announcement was made yesterday after a closed session of Heads of State of the Commission.

the media aide to the president, Bashir Ahmad made this known on his Twitter with a post that read;

“President Muhammadu Buhari has been elected the new Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the just concluded ECOWAS Summit in Lome, Togo’.

In the same vain, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu in the statement said:

“In his acceptance remarks, the Nigerian leader, who commended his colleagues for his election, noted that he did not offer himself for the post, but you refused to take any no for an answer.

“He, however, told his fellow leaders that, “I am truly humbled and pledge to serve and work with all of you to deliver on peace, security, good governance and socio-economic development and take our organisation to greater heights. 

“President Buhari also commended his immediate predecessor and President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe for successfully hosting two important meetings of the Joint Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and ECOWAS as well as the 53rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS.”

This news however has been met with mixed reactions owning to the fact that the Nigerian President will be running for a second term in February next year, has chaired the organization in the past and also considering his age.

Another point of concern was the fact that Nigerian has produced 3 ECOWAS chairmen in the last 8 years and almost every Nigerian Leader has chaired the ECOWAS (with Muhammadu Buhari on the helm of affairs in 1985 when he was then military head of state). 

How this is possible in an ECOWAS organization that  comprises of 15 equal member states who should rotate its leadership rather than re-cycle, why Nigeria chaired the organization 9 times since 1975 remains a question in need of urgent answers. 

The current member states of the ECOWAS are:

BENIN

BURKINA FASO

CABO VERDE

CÔTE D'IVOIRE

The GAMBIA

GHANA

GUINEA

GUINEA BISSAU

LIBERIA

MALI

NIGER

NIGERIA

SENEGAL

SIERRA LEONE

TOGO

The Chairpersons of ECOWAS since its inception in 1975 are:

Yakubu Gowon Nigeria 28 May 1975 – 29 July 1975

Gnassingbé Eyadéma Togo 29 July 1975 – 13 September 1977

Olusegun Obasanjo Nigeria 13 September 1977 – 30 September 1979

Léopold Sédar Senghor Senegal 30 September 1979 – 31 December 1980

Gnassingbé Eyadéma Togo 1980–1981

Siaka Stevens Sierra Leone 1981–1982

Mathieu Kérékou Benin 1982–1983

Ahmed Sékou Touré Guinea 1983–1984

Lansana Conté Guinea 1984–1985

Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria 1985 – 27 August 1985

Ibrahim Babangida Nigeria 27 August 1985 – 1989

Dawda Jawara Gambia 1989–1990

Blaise Compaoré Burkina Faso 1990–1991

Dawda Jawara Gambia 1991–1992

Abdou Diouf Senegal 1992–1993

Nicéphore Soglo Benin 1993–1994

Jerry Rawlings Ghana 1994 – 27 July 1996

Sani Abacha Nigeria 27 July 1996 – 8 June 1998

Abdulsalami Abubakar Nigeria 9 June 1998 – 1999

Gnassingbé Eyadéma Togo 1999 – 1999

Alpha Oumar Konaré Mali 1999 – 21 December 2001

Abdoulaye Wade Senegal 21 December 2001 – 31 January 2003

John Kufuor Ghana 31 January 2003 – 19 January 2005

Mamadou Tandja Niger 19 January 2005 – 19 January 2007

Blaise Compaoré Burkina Faso 19 January 2007 – 19 December 2008

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Nigeria 19 December 2008 – 18 February 2010

Goodluck Jonathan Nigeria 18 February 2010 – 17 February 2012

Alassane Ouattara Ivory Coast 17 February 2012 – 17 February 2013

John Mahama Ghana 17 February 2013 – 19 May 2015

Macky Sall Senegal 19 May 2015 – 4 June 2016

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Liberia 4 June 2016 – 4 June 2017

Faure Gnassingbé Togo 4 June 2017 – July 2018

Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria July 2018 - Present