The President of Nigeria and Chairman of the The Economic Community of West African States is expected to host Authority of Heads of States, hosts his counterparts at an extraordinary meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, Saturday morning.
According to The PUNCH, presidential sources said the Economic Community of West African States is expected to suspend all sanctions imposed on Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, who are under military rule after juntas overthrew the civilian governments of all three countries.
Presidential sources told Saturday PUNCH that with the lifted sanctions, the bloc would attempt to talk the three alienated states out of their decision to withdraw.
Headquartered in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the nearly 50-year-old bloc consists of 15 countries.
However, the military-led juntas of Burkina-Faso, Mali and Niger, in late January, announced their withdrawal over “illegal sanctions” harming their people.
A presidential source who spoke to Saturday PUNCH late Friday revealed that “ECOWAS is likely to lift the sanctions against those three states. For the sake of brotherhood, they don’t want them to go.
