Jonathan quits as ECOWAS chairman tomorrow

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is to be replaced as chairman of the Authority of Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government tomorrow.Authority of Heads of State and Government is the supreme institution of the community, comprising heads of state and/or government of member states. The authority is responsible for the general direction and control of the ECOWAS and takes all measures to ensure its progressive development and the realisation of its objectives.Jonathan's replacement is expected at the 40th ordinary session of ECOWAS summit to be held in Abuja.President Jonathan, whose tenure could no longer be extended, continued the tenure of Nigeria ab initio, following the demise of the late President Umaru Yar'Adua.The late Yar'Adua, whose tenure Jonathan completed before he later got an extension, was elected chairman of the community in Abuja on December 19, 2008, for a period of one year, after President Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso served out the final leg of his third non-consecutive tenure which held between 2006 and 2008. Yar'Adua had emerged the sixth Nigerian leader to chair the organisation in 2008, after Olusegun Obasanjo (1978); Muhammadu Buhari (1985); Ibrahim Babangida (1986-1988); Sani Abacha (1996-1998) and Abdulsalami Abubakar (1998-1999).A source told the Nigerian Tribune that 'Jonathan's tenure will come to an end on Thursday.'Information gathered by the Nigerian Tribune had it that apart from the issue of Jonathan's tenure, the summit would also concern itself with the allocation of statutory positions at the commission and its other institutions.It was gathered that some highlights of the 40th summit, to be presided over by the current ECOWAS chairman, President Jonathan, would include the allocation of the position of the president of the commission and the election of a new chairman of the authority.The summit would also endorse countries to fill the vacant positions of four judges at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, who would replace those whose tenure ended in January.It would also allocate positions of the Director-General and Deputy Director-General for the Dakar-based ECOWAS Inter-Governmental Group for Action against Money Laundering and Terror Financing in West Africa (GIABA).
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