The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, has described the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States as a major setback for regional cooperation.
According to The Punch Dare made the statement on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at a policy colloquium organised by the Ministry of Defence.
According to him, the departure of the three Sahel countries weakened key ECOWAS mechanisms designed to promote regional integration, including the movement of goods and services across member states.
“The rupture that came in 2025 when the countries pulled out of ECOWAS created a major regional crisis. That pullout from ECOWAS simply blunted the ECOWAS protocol that promoted integration, free movement of goods and services.
“It eventually led to the creation of AES, another counter-regional body to ECOWAS. But it also challenged the other instruments and protocols that we have for regional cooperation,” he said.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all under military rule, formally left ECOWAS in January 2025 after announcing their intention to withdraw the previous year.
The three governments had accused ECOWAS of failing to adequately support their fight against jihadist insurgencies and criticised what they perceived as the bloc’s close relationship with France, their former colonial power.
The countries subsequently formed the Alliance of Sahel States, also known as the Confederation of Sahel States, a regional political and economic alliance.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Defence, Gen Christopher Musa (retd.), said the Federal Government was placing national security at the centre of its agenda.
Musa said the administration’s security efforts were aimed at protecting Nigeria’s sovereignty, strengthening democratic institutions and creating conditions for national development.
