Abuja, 4th December 2019. The Mediation and Security Council (MSC) at the Ambassadorial level of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held its 31st Session on the 4th of December 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The meeting of the regional Ambassadors and some heads of department of the ECOWAS Commission is in furtherance of the entrenchment of democratic norms in West Africa as well as the promotion of the ECOWAS provisions on good governance and democracy.

Welcoming the delegates to the meeting, the ECOWAS Commission’s Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Gen Francis Behanzin gave the assurances of the high commitment of the ECOWAS Commission to cooperate with the MSC to continuously strengthen security and democratic processes in the region.

Regarding the political situation in the region, Commissioner Behanzin stated that the ECOWAS Commission is “concerned at the highest level with political issues, and more particularly with electoral issues and their impact on the achievement of an enabling environment for development in our region”

It is for this reason, he noted, that ECOWAS must not only see to the excellent conduct of the various elections in its region, but also ensure that voters’ choices are respected.

Declaring the meeting open, the Permanent Representative of Niger to ECOWAS and the MSC Chairman-in-Office at the Ambassador level, Alhaji Alat Mogaskia, stressed the need for robust deliberations on the updates to be provided on the political situation in the quest for consolidation of democracy in West Africa.

In the course of the meeting, the Ambassadors were briefed and given specific updates on the political situation in selected Member States regarding state of play, agreements, interventions as well as the implementation of outlined programmes meant to facilitate the democratic ethos.

Recommendations from the meeting will be presented to the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and then to the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on solutions for the peace, security and stability challenges facing the region.