…..says it got no formal letter of withdrawal
By Segun Fatuase
There is palpable anxiety in West Africa as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) insisted that it was yet to receive a formal letter of withdrawal of membership from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from the sub-regional organisation.
ECOWAS had earlier suspended the three countries following military coups that overthrew their democratically elected governments — in Niger July 2023, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and in Mali in 2020 and 2021.
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso were founding members of ECOWAS since 1975 but the regional body imposed sanctions on them in the wake of military coups that overthrew elected civilian governments in the three countries .
The military regimes in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso subsequently announced their immediate withdrawal from ECOWAS after accusing the sub-regional body of threatening their sovereignty.
The trilateral decision of the countries to withdraw from the organization delivers a blow to its regional integration efforts, creating uncertainty on how this exit will impact the bloc, where goods and citizens move freely.
The three West African countries which formed an Alliance of Sahel States (AES) stated that ECOWAS had come “under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles” and was a “threat to member states and peoples”.
They accused ECOWAS of having “moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and Pan-Africanism” after nearly 50 years of its establishment and claimed that the bloc is “under the influence of foreign powers.”
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso claimed they sent ‘official notices’ to ECOWAS but the regional body insisted that that there was ”no formal and direct notification” of membership withdrawal from the three countries .
“The ECOWAS Commission, as directed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government, has been working tirelessly with these countries to restore constitutional order. Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali remain important members of the Community, and the Authority is committed to resolving the political impasse through negotiation,” the sub-regional body said.
Under the ECOWAS statutes, withdrawal can’t take effect for at least a year after official notification.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government said it remained “open for engagement” with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
It also appealed to the international community to continue to extend its support for ECOWAS and its vision of closer regional partnership, cooperation and integration.
- With reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.