By Abubakar Yunusa
President of the Economic Community of West African State, Omar Touray, has regretted that despite numerous deliberations, ECOWAS has been unable to persuade Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to reverse their decision to withdraw from the regional bloc.
Touray said this during the opening ceremony of the 92nd Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers on Thursday in Abuja.
He noted that despite the efforts of ECOWAS to engage these countries, their response has not been positive.
After the military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS since January 2024, the regional bloc has made attempts their return by lifting some sanctions imposed on them and invitations to technical meetings.
The attempts has, however, not achieved the desired results.
Touray, has regretted that despite numerous deliberations, ECOWAS has been unable to persuade Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to reverse their decision to withdraw from the regional block.
The ECOWAS President also asked member states to increase their contributions towards operationalising the ECOWAS counter-terrorism force and financing the action plan to combat terrorism.
He emphasised that this initiative will strengthen the region security architecture which had been threatened by political instability and other factors.