President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja welcomed efforts to
strengthen and expand cooperation between ECOWAS and the Economic
Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on the war against terrorism.
Speaking at a meeting with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr
Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, President Buhari restated his view that greater
regional and international cooperation was needed to ensure victory over
terrorism in Nigeria and other countries.
The President assured Mr. Ouedraogo that Nigeria will hold further
consultations with other stakeholders to agree on a new date for the
ECOWAS-ECCAS security summit on Boko Haram, earlier scheduled to hold in
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on April 8, 2015.
The summit was postponed because of the general elections in Nigeria on
March 28 and April 11, 2015.
President Buhari also assured Mr. Ouedraogo that Nigeria will continue to
fulfill its financial obligations to ECOWAS to enhance the regional body’s
ability to attain its objective of regional integration and development.
The President commended the ECOWAS Commission and other ECOWAS
institutions for progress made on the Biometric Identity Card system,
which will come into force in 2016, saying that its introduction will be a
major milestone to full regional integration and the free movement of
ECOWAS citizens within the sub-region.