ECOWAS set to replace staff from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Council of Ministers has held a meeting in Abuja to deliberate on how to replace members of staff from the Alliance of Sahel States countries of Mali, Burkina-Faso and Niger Republic. The three Sahelian countries officially exited ECOWAS earlier in the year and all efforts to get […]

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Council of Ministers has held a meeting in Abuja to deliberate on how to replace members of staff from the Alliance of Sahel States countries of Mali, Burkina-Faso and Niger Republic.

The three Sahelian countries officially exited ECOWAS earlier in the year and all efforts to get them back into the fold failed.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the meeting on Thursday, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, said the exit of the staff from the AES countries had created a huge vacuum and was affecting the smooth operation of the body, calling for the immediate replacement of the staff.

“With the sudden departure of a large number of our workforce who are nationals of the countries that exited from the organisation, namely Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, we are faced with the challenge of replacing them. 

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“We need the council to guide us in the equitable distribution of the vacant positions among all the member states without sacrificing competence. 

“As our staff regulations did not provide any guidance on how to allocate vacant positions to specific member states for the purpose of achieving equity, it has become necessary for the council to provide its guidance on the way forward. 

“We are, therefore, pleased to present to you a memorandum with proposals on how to achieve this equitable distribution of the positions and fast-track the recruitment process,” he said. 

In her remark, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to providing all the necessary support to ensure the continued success of the organisation in all its endeavours. 

“We fully recognise the importance of this exercise as an essential undertaking aimed at ensuring that all the existing vacancies are duly filled, thereby enabling the organisation to operate at its optimal capacity,” she said.