President Muhammadu Buhari says
it is a “matter of concern” that terrorism and violent extremism have continued
to threaten the peace of West Africa.
He made the comment on Saturday
during his speech at the 54th ordinary session of heads of state and government
of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja.
Buhari said in his speech:
“ECOWAS is still confronted by several challenges. The sub-region continues to
face difficulties in the economic, governance, peace, security and humanitarian
fields.
“As we all know, the primary
objective of ECOWAS as set out in its Treaty, is to promote cooperation and
integration, leading to the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union in
West Africa, in order to raise the living standards of our people and
contribute to the progress and development of the African continent.
“Indeed as a Community, our
aspiration is to create a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region,
based on good governance and where our people have the capacity to access and
harness its resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable
development, job creation and environmental preservation.
“These lofty ideals are however
not attainable without peace and security. That is why I have decided to make
the issue of peace and security the major focus of my Chairmanship. I am happy
to inform this august assembly that our efforts have started yielding dividends
as we have been able to douse tension and restore confidence in some
potentially disruptive political situations, particularly in Guinea Bissau,
Togo and Mali.
“It is a matter of concern that
terrorism and violent extremism have continued to threaten the peace and
security in our sub-region. This threat calls for collective action on our
part, if we are to effectively and definitively eliminate it. As we work on new
strategies to combat and eradicate this menace, we require the support of our partners
to ensure the achievement of our objectives.
“Still on sub-regional peace, as
you are all aware, Nigeria and Senegal will hold general elections in February
2019. On my part, I have already made a pledge to conduct free, fair and
credible elections.”
The president also noted that the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and other
political stakeholders have expressed their “unwavering commitment” to the
conduct of peaceful elections in Nigeria.
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