President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday emphasized the need for “accountability and good neighbourliness” in both the West Africa sub-region and the continent as a whole.
The President made the remark when he met with the President of ECOWAS Commission and Chairperson of the African Union Commission at State House, Abuja.
Receiving the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel A. de Souza, President Buhari said it was gladdening that the organization was demanding accountability from its headquarters staff, which made it to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to look into its books.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said: “Thanks for being firm, and for insisting on transparency and accountability at the ECOWAS headquarters.”
He promised that Nigeria would continue to fulfill its obligations to the sub-regional body.
Nigeria hosts the 52nd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government Saturday in Abuja.
President Buhari said he expected a formal report on the situation in Guinea Bissau at the meeting, noting: “We need our troops back home and I hope the President of that country will accept a constitutional way to resolve the situation there.”
The ECOWAS Commission chief thanked Nigeria for agreeing to host the 52nd Ordinary Session at short notice, adding that the impact of Nigeria was quite strong in the organization.
“We are under financial pressure due to terrorist attacks in the sub-region, but Nigeria being out of recession will have an impact on the entire region,” de Souza said.
He noted that Nigeria was the highest contributor of troops to Guinea Bissau, but admitted that “the troops can’t be there endlessly.”
At the meeting with the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, President Buhari said good neighbourliness and relationship were important for security and economic development in the continent.
“That was why I visited all our neighbours. Such relationship is crucial for security and economic development, so that our youths can get jobs,” the President noted.
On the situation in Libya, President Buhari reiterated that not every black man was a Nigerian, and it was therefore important to authenticate the origin of the people in distress before they were evacuated.
“We are trying to bring as many as possible from Libya. But not every black man is a Nigerian. Others claim to be Nigerian, when they are not, and because they have destroyed their travel papers, we can’t claim them, except there is proper documentation,” the President said.
