ECOWAS leaders in an extraordinary session teleconference meeting on April 23, 2020, elected Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari as ‘Champion’ to coordinate the response to COVID-19 in the sub-region.
With regards to how aggressive President Akufo-Addo is fighting to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana as compared to his Nigerian counterpart, Buhari, it was just evident that the champion to coordinate response for the ECOWAS sub-region would be based on the leaders’ performance in his home country but that was not the cases at the extraordinary session meeting held yesterday.
Participants of the meeting agreed that all the other presidents support President Buhari to deliver on the duty.
President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications confirmed this via Twitter.
ECOWAS leaders at an extraordinary summit held by video conference have appointed President Muhammadu Buhari as Champion that will coordinate the COVID-19 response in the sub-region. All the other Presidents will be available to support President Buhari.
— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) April 23, 2020
Presidents who participated in the ECOWAS meeting include Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, Adama Barrow of The Gambia, Julius Bio of Sierra Leone who is currently in self-quarantine, George Weah of Liberia, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo and Alhassanne Outtara of Ivory Coast.
According to data from West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), Ghana has the highest number of COVID- cases in the sub-region with 1,154 cases, followed by the Ivory Coast which has 952 cases before Niger with 662 cases. Burkina Faso, which has 609 cases, leads in terms of the number of COVID-19 victims who have recovered 389.
