Skip to main content

ECOWAS Broke, Begs Nigeria For Cash

The President of ECOWAS, Mr Marcel De Souza, on Thursday, expressed frustration over the paucity of fund being experienced by the commission.


De Souza, a Béninoise, was speaking in Abuja when he led a delegation from the commission to a courtesy visit on the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Khadijat Abba-Ibrahim.


He appealed to Nigeria and other member states to rescue the commission by paying up their outstanding levies.


“We have certain challenges that we are facing. The first is our financial situation that has become quite precarious.
“The situation is tied to the economic condition in the member states and the fact that the price of oil has dropped.


“The community levy which represents 90 percent of our funding is no longer regularly paid by most member states; Nigeria is not alone in this regard, also Cote D’Ivoire,” he said.


He said that Cote D’Ivoire, Cape Verde and Senegal were major defaulters, but the greater challenge was Nigeria.


“We see that the greatest challenge lies with Nigeria. The arrears that Nigeria is owning is 694,000 dollars because there was no payment made between 2015 and 2016.


“Because of the debt burden it carries, ECOWAS is now losing its credibility,” the president said.


According to him, Transcorp Hilton where meeting of all Heads of State was held in 2015 had not been settled by the commission.


He added that the bills of peace building troops sent to Guinea Bissau and Mali were yet to be paid, stressing that peace would always come with a cost.


“So, we wish to see our credibility restored. We appeal to Nigeria that the outstanding bill between 2015 and 2016 be paid.


“Without Nigeria and without Nigeria’s contribution we will not be able to sustain our activities neither we will be able to restore our credibility,” he said.
The minister congratulated the president on his appointment, stressing that his vast experience would help in addressing the challenges of the commission.


She said that the issue of finance raised should be brought before President Muhammadu Buhari in as much that ECOWAS delegation would visit him later.
She said that other issues raised would be discussed in due course.



The minister said that she would discuss the issue of accommodation raised earlier by the ECOWAS leader with her counterpart in the Federal Capital Territory.


She pledged to assist the commission to secure a guest house for its president through the FCT minister so that it would not incur further hotel bills.


According to her, the issue of security is a thing of general concern and that it is necessary that troops are paid on time to give them the incentives to fight terrorism.


Source: Naira Land.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

King Of Swazi chooses Wife, Publicly Test Girls' Virginity As They Dance Naked. (Photos)

A common tradition in Swaziland (Swazi) permits the King, Mswati, to choose a new bride every year. This is done in a festival named Swazi Reed Dance Festival where girls are paraded and tested publicly to know their virginity status. It has been a long time tradition in Swaziland and not the first time this controversial issue is making it into the news. Although, many consider this barbaric and backward, it’s a tradition the people willingly embrace as the aim is to help King Mswati choose a wife. As part of Swazi custom and norms, that time of the year has come, when the King chooses his bride and again, he has reportedly tested some of the volunteered girls’ virginity before choosing a wife for himself. Thousands of pretty virgins’ were seen in this year’s edition dancing topless for King Mswati III, on what is called the Reed Dance ceremony, also known as Umhlanga), hoping to be his next wife. The Reed Dance ceremony is an annual Swazi and Zulu tradition hel...

Ijakumo Movie Review

  Whatever this movie was set to give, it didn't give.  Even the stripping is not giving. Why is the Sharon girl sex talking like she is doing spoken words???  I liked the babe in "Listening Ears", but I feel she is not 'mature' enough theatrically for this role. Wait, what I noticed was that Toyin and her crew didn't know there was a girl who looks like the Sharon girl in his church. A very crazy error that no director should make. If they had come in with this, maybe the finding out they were twin bla BLA BLA suspense would suspense well. But as the director or script writer were very myopic, the twin shii didn't hold water. If they had said or showed that they picked the Ugandan girl because she looked like the Nigerian girl in his church, e for make perfect sense. Seriously, I am miffed. The only thing that thrilled me was Kunle Remi and his lines. O mard gan. 🤣🤣🤣 "Emi mimo ni kin gbenu sohun". 🤣🤣🤣 "So, idi Uganda lo Fe baye mi j...

Sista Movie Review

  The opening scene did me in. I read somewhere that the first few 5 minutes of a movie determines if it is worth it.  Trust me, Sista movie hooked me in less than 5 minutes. I loved the straight to the point opening. No show of the Third Mainland Bridge. No lazy show of Lagos traffic. Nothing. Also, the past/present sequence made crazy sense.  Seeing Kehinde Bankole in that role is refreshing, it's not what she is used to, but she did well. Chimezie was quite not in character, or maybe he didn't bond with Ade Herself. I don't know. He is better than what I saw him act here. As usual Aunty Ronke Oshodi Oke gave it her all. This Tope Owokoniran babe tried with her Hausa accent. I love it!!! I think this is the best of her I have seen so far. I'd say this is a movie Aunty Biodun Stephen put her everything to make. This is a beautiful work of art. I love every piece of it. The story line is dope. Directing is flawless. The fun part was that even though It was predictable f...