The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has declared support for Nigeria’s candidacy for the position of African Union (AU) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security.
Authority of Heads of State Government reached the decision at the end of a virtual session chaired by the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The agreement is contained in a communiqué issued by the ECOWAS Parliament on Wednesday.
“The authority decides to prioritise support for the candidature of Nigeria to the post of Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security,” it read.
On the nomination of ECOWAS member states to chair the AU, the presidents nominated Senegal to chair the AU for the 2022 – 2023 period.
The authority instructed President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Brou to take the necessary steps to immediately notify the AU Commission of the nomination.
The body directed the ECOWAS Commission to propose, for adoption, a clear mechanism for the rotation of the candidates.
This will ensure that each member-state gets a legitimate opportunity to chair the Assembly of the AU.
ECOWAS leaders decided that the second position for commissioner, allocated to the West African sub-region, be filled by Burkina Faso, in respect of gender parity.
They reiterated commitment to regional body’s institutional reform process, particularly with regard to enhanced financial management and internal control of the institutions.
“The authority notes that the tenure of the current statutory appointees comes to an end in February 2022, and that there is a need to discuss the optimal structure of the new commission and the other institutions, modalities for allocation of statutory positions, as well as efforts to streamline ECOWAS operating costs.”
The Ad hoc Committee on Institutional Reform has been mandated to commence work and submit its report to the Ordinary Session of the Authority in June 2021.
In January, President Muhammdu Buhari called for the restructuring of ECOWAS.
