By Lizzy Okoji
Abuja – Dr Aderemi Ajibewa, Director, Political Affairs, Economic Community Of West Africa State (ECOWAS) has pledged the support of the Commission to ensure stability in Guinea Bissau, after its general elections.
Ajibewa made the pledge in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from Conakry on Friday in Abuja where he was on election monitoring mission.
He pledged that the ECOWAS Commission would also provide technical support to ensure that institutional reforms were put in place, considering the pre-election crisis in the country.
He said that the Commission would extend the same support to other countries in the sub-region that would be having their elections in 2020, all in a bid to ensure peace, security and stability across West Africa.
“On the issue of peace and security as well as stability, we all know that without peace and security, there cannot be development.
“We will look at the issue of the extension of the ECOWAS mission in Guinea Bissau, that is ECOMIB, and also the extension of the ECOMIG, which both mandates would be ending in March 2020.
“This would also be a center of discussion that the Heads of State would be preoccupied with.
“ECOWAS will also continue to provide the technical support after the presidential election, where Umaro Cissoko Embalo polled 293,295 — 53.5 per cent of the total votes.
“So, in essence, ECOWAS will accompany the country to ensure that the institutional reforms are put in place.
“That is to ensure that in 2020, a referendum can be conducted in looking at the Constitution, which seems to have led to some problems in the country.
“There would be six Presidential of General elections to be held in the region in 2020, namely; in Togo which would be around February ending, we have the Republic of Guinea in October.
“Republic of Cote d’Ivoire in October, Burkina Faso in November and Ghana in December and Niger, Dec. 27, 2020. So, those are the six major elections which ECOWAS would be involved in,” Ajibewa said.
Ajibewa said that ECOWAS would also be involved in the consolidation of democracy in other Member States that has had their elections, thus creating an enabling environment for peaceful coexistence among the Member states.
On the issue of terrorism, Ajibewa said that the ECOWAS Commission was also committed to the implementation of the 2020 to 2024 action plan, especially the eight priority action plan.
He said that the Authority of the ECOWAS Head of States and Government made the call for the implementation of the 2020-2024 action plan to combat terrorism during its last summit on Dec. 21, 2019.
“The implementation on this would lead to the eradication of terrorism in the region.
“There would also be working relationship with the African Union as usual, with the UN through the UNOWAS Office.
“ECOWAS will also be working with partners, both development partners as well as international institutions like the World Bank, IMF, African Development Bank, as well as in other bilateral relations,” he said.
NAN also reports that following the political unrest in Guinea Bissau since 2014, ECOWAS deployed the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau (EOMIB) to strengthen peace, security and stability.
On Nov. 24, 2019, Presidential Elections were held in Guinea Bissau and as no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election was conducted on Dec. 29.
Opposition leader, Umaro Cissoko Embalo, won the polls defeating incumbent Jose Mario Vaz scoring 293,295 with 53.5 per cent of the total votes.
(NAN)