Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has left Lagos for Accra, Ghana to represent Nigeria at the 61st Ordinary Session of the Authority of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government holding on Sunday, July 2.
The Vice President who is expected back into country on Sunday, July 3rd, is accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Zubairu Dada and some other members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said Prof. Osinbajo, standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari at the summit, will join other leaders to deliberate and take decisions on the political, security and humanitarian issues among others regarding the sub-region at the regular ECOWAS summit.
He said the meeting will also review the situations in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, particularly towards restoring democratic rule.
He recalled that West African leaders had since 2020 held several sessions, including emergency meetings, dedicated to finding lasting solutions to the resurgence of coups in some of the countries in the sub-region.
He said at the summit tomorrow, the Mediation and Security Council of ECOWAS will update leaders on political developments in the region and in the Sahel region.
He said the council will also provide updates on the issues of insecurity, challenges relating to youth unemployment and the impact of diseases and pandemics on social tensions in the region.
Akande recounted that only recently on 4th June, 2022 in Accra, Ghana, President Buhari joined other ECOWAS leaders to deliberate on the situation in the sub-region, urging more attention to be paid to the victims of unconstitutional change of government.
He said the VP will also attend a meeting of the five West African countries involved with “The Abidjan – Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project” on the sidelines of the summit, describing it as a flagship project of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) which connects the capitals of five West African states (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria) and stretches for approximately 1,028 km.
According to him, “A release from ECOWAS Commission says the objective of this $42million project is ‘to promote cross-border trade, integrate economies within the ECOWAS area, reduce transport costs, stimulate inter-regional trade and strengthen regional integration in West Africa.”