New Telegraph

Buhari to ECOWAS leaders: Don’t elongate your tenure

…charges colleagues to conduct free, fair polls

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the ECOWAS leaders to resist the temptation of tenure elongation and adhere strictly to their constitutional terms in office.

 

According to a statement made available to newsmen yesterday by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, the President gave the charge while presenting Nigeria’s General Statement at the 57th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Niamey, Niger Republic yesterday. Buhari also urged his colleagues to respect constitutional provisions and ensure free and fair elections.

 

This came as he restated his commitment to the adoption of a common currency by ECOWAS member states to facilitate trade in the region. He said: “It is important that as leaders of our individual Member-States of ECOWAS, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits.

 

This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region. “As it is, the challenges facing the sub-region are enormous; from socio-economic matters to security issues, the ECOWAS subregion cannot, therefore, afford another political crisis in the guise of tenure elongation.

 

I urge us all to resist the temptation of seeking to perpetuate ourselves in power beyond the constitutional provisions. “I commend those in our midst that have resisted such temptations, for they will be deemed exceptional role models in their respective countries and the subregion as a whole.

 

“Related to this call for restraint is the need to guarantee free, fair and credible elections. This must be the bedrock for democracy to be sustained in our sub-region, just as the need for adherence to the rule of law.”

 

On the political situation in Mali, President Buhari said it was of serious concern to ECOWAS, and commended President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic and out-going Chair of the ECOWAS      Authority of Heads of State and Government and the Leadership of the ECOWAS Commission, as well as the Chief Mediator, former President Goodluck Jonathan, “for effectively demonstrating commitment in handling the political situation in that country.” He said Nigeria remained in support of the ECOWAS resolution mandating the junta to return to constitutional democracy within 12 months.

 

He warned that non-state actors in Mali could take advantage of the prevailing unstable political situation to plunge the country into greater danger that will affect the political stability of the whole sub-region. “While Nigeria understands the current political realities in Mali, the sub-  region’s commitment to the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, must never be compromised.

 

“An early return to democratic governance which is transparent and civilianled, will commend itself for Nigeria’s support for progressive relaxation of sanctions against Mali,” he stressed.

 

On security, Buhari called for collaboration amongst member states to combat the root cause of insecurity. He said: “Nigeria is concerned with the rapidity at which terrorist groups in the Sahel and West Africa are working together against all of us. We must urgently review these ugly developments to guarantee the safety and survival of our sub-region.”

 

The president said the member states must remain collectively focused and resolute in working to achieve the objectives of the ECOWAS monetary union as a project for the  sub-region. He, however, warned against external interference while noting the likelihood that many member states may not meet the convergence criteria over the next few years due to the impact of COVID-19 on their economies, which will affect the take-off date of the single currency.

 

Buhari noted that the premature adoption of the “ECO” has unnecessarily heightened disaffection and mistrust among members of the emerging monetary union just as he encouraged “UEMOA (French acronym for the West African Economic and Monetary Union) to return to the roadmap on the common currency in the sub-region.

 

The Nigerian President called on his colleagues to provide “African solutions to African problems.” Buhari charged his colleagues on the “need to continue to work in concert with each other on several fronts to ease the negative effects of the pandemic.”

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