President John Mahama has closed the one-day summit of the
Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), with a call for peaceful,
transparent and credible elections in five Member States in the coming year.
Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Guinea and Burkina Faso will
be going to the polls at various points during next year.
“We hope and pray for well-organised polls that are free,
fair, transparent and credible. Let
there be peace in our nations,” the President stated.
The Summit, which was attended by nine Heads of State and
Government and top representatives of the other six Governments, also
considered the 2014 Annual Report prepared by the ECOWAS Commission.
President Mahama renewed the commitment and support of
ECOWAS to the people of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, in the fight against
the deadly Ebola virus disease.
“Ebola is still a very serious challenge, and we cannot
entertain complacency or relent in our efforts, until the last infected person
is cured and the disease is wiped out of the affected nations,” he stated
during the Summit.
The Presidents of Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo,
Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger and Mali and the other representatives also
discussed the peace and security situation in the West African sub-region,
especially the menace being caused by the Boko Haram terrorist group in some
parts of Nigeria.
The Summit deferred, to May 2015, a discussion of the agenda
item on the election of a Chair for ECOWAS for the coming year.
President Mahama left Abuja on Monday evening for Kumasi,
where he commissioned the completed first phase of the Kumasi Airport expansion
and upgrade project, involving the installation of an Aeronautical Ground
Lighting (AGL) system that will allow planes to take off and land at the
airport in the night time.
-FH Communications
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