ECOWAS leaders undecided over next president

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

THE meeting of the Heads of States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), convened on Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan at the Nnamdi International Airport, Abuja, failed to agree on who becomes the next president of ECOWAS Commission.

It is the second time in recent time that the meeting would be deadlocked, having earlier failed to agree on a choice between Benin Republic and Bourkina Faso, two countries shortlisted for the position.

Following the earlier deadlock on the issue, the heads of states had set up an ad hoc committee, under the chairmanship of the president of Sierra Leone, to look at possible ways of breaking the logjam.

The report of the committee was considered at Tuesday’s meeting of the ECOWAS Heads of State.

According to the outgoing president of the commission, Ambassador James Victor Gheho of Ghana, who spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the ECOWAS leaders could not reach an agreement on which of the two countries should get the post.

Ghego said agreement was, however, reached on the post of the vice-president of the commission, which had been allocated to Liberia.

Other positions included, among other, Commissioner in charge of Micro Economic Policies (Mali); Political Affairs, (Nigeria).

-Tribunewp_posts