Osinbajo To Represent Buhari At 3rd ECOWAS Summit In Ghana

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will today represent President Muhammadu Buhari at an Extraordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Accra, Ghana on the political situation in the Republics of Guinea and Mali.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande.

According to the statement, the meeting which will be the third on the same agenda this year, will assess previous resolutions and further review the political situation in the Republics of Guinea and Mali.

ECOWAS leaders in the communique issued at the end of the last special summit in Accra had, amongst other resolutions, decided to freeze the financial assets of members of the military junta, place a travel ban on them, while also demanding that the junta return Guinea to constitutional rule within six months.

The Vice President had restated Nigeria’s position on the situation in Guinea at the summit, where he called for the unconditional release of President Alpha Condé and called for more pressure to be put on the country’s military leaders to return the nation to democratic rule.

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While commending the efforts of stakeholders in Mali, Osinbajo re-emphasised the need to strictly respect and follow the electoral timetable for transition to civil rule.

“At the virtual summit earlier, Prof Osinbajo proposed punitive measures and proactive preventive steps towards addressing military intervention in civil rule in the region, which includes that the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), Commonwealth, and other relevant or related financial institutions act in unity simultaneously to suspend a country, where there has been a seizure of power, from these bodies,” the statement read.

“He also proposed engagement with the military junta and all stakeholders in Guinea and the enforcement of necessary “punitive measures that will ensure that the military junta does not overstay in power.”

The Vice President also restated Nigeria’s position calling on all leaders to always respect the principles of democracy and the constitutions of their respective countries.

Vice President Osinbajo, will be joined by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, and is expected back in Abuja later today.