A closed session is currently taking place during an extraordinary meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This special summit is currently taking place at the Old Banquet Hall at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Among those present at this meeting are Bola Tinubu, the ECOWAS Chairman and President of Nigeria, as well as President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, President Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco of Guinea-Bissau and President Everiste Ndayishimiye of Burundi. Additional participants include President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania, President Nana Akofo-Ado of Ghana, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic and Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo.
For The Gambia and Liberia, their representation comes in the form of their respective foreign ministers. Noticeably absent are the heads of state of the embattled nations of the Republic of Niger, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso.
The central point of the discussion at this meeting revolves around the next steps that will follow the resolutions and time-sensitive directives issued to the Nigerien junta. This junta recently removed democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum from office.