By Henry Ekwuruke
Having passed through the tests of the Election Petition Tribunals, Appeal Courts and the Nigerian Supreme Court and confirmed by the Apex Court in Nigeria as winner in the 2007 Elections, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of Nigeria was today elected as the new Chairman of ECOWAS.
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The President took over from the out-going Chairman and President of Burkina Faso, President Blaise Compaore at the 35th Ordinary Session of the Authority of the Heads of States and Governments of ECOWAS on Friday December 19 in Abuja.
In a communique issued at the end of the summit held in Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital city, ECOWAS leaders called for a regional strategy that would minimize the risks on the regional economy and urged Member States to strengthen the management and structural reform of their economies.
Nigerian President Umar Musa Yar'Adua who was elected Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government for the next one year after taking over from his Burkinabe counterpart, President Blaise Campaore has promised to take ECOWAS to greater heights while he pledged Nigeria's commitment to the expansion and increased effectiveness of the sub-regional body.
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The meeting approved the appointment of three new judges for the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to replace those due to retire early 2009 from the Court. Justices Mrs Clotilde Medegan Nougbode from Benin, Benfeito MOsso Ramos from Cape Verde and Eliam Monsedjoueni Potey from Cote d'Ivoire will serve for a four-year non-renewable term.
The Heads of Government warned that the global financial crisis could undermine the region's economic recovery and precipitate a reduction in foreign direct investment, remittances from migrant workers and a drop in commodity prices, the mainstay of the economies of most of the Member States.
The summit, however, discussed the twin issues of regional peace and security, particularly the situations in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire and Niger Republic. They also signed 10 supplementary Acts mostly in the areas of the environment, the management of water resources, community investment code, youth policy and the creation of the West Africa Regional Institute for Regional Integration.
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Published: 19/12/2008