By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA – The Presidency on Sunday said that Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are technically not members of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, because they are on suspension.

The Presidency also explained that the suspension order, which was slammed on the two countries before President Bola Tinubu took over the leadership of the regional bloc was as a result of the coup d’etat in the countries that illegally removed democratically elected government.

A Presidency source that spoke to Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, said that the ECOWAS Secretariat and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, are in a better position to give clarity to the development.

Recall that the three countries of Mali, Republic of Niger and Burkina Faso have announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS.

The trio are under military rule and have been criticized for sacking the constitutional government in their countries.

Reacting to their withdrawal from the regional body, the Presidency source said, “Mali and Burkina Faso were suspended before Mr. President became chairman of ECOWAS. Niger was the last one and you know the reason why they were suspended.

“They were removing the elected legally/ legitimate government via coup d’etat. So that is why they were suspended. So technically, I don’t know why people are worried about this.

“Technically, those countries are no longer members of ECOWAS as at today because their memberships have been suspended. So, when they said they are leaving, they are not members because they are serving suspension. So, it is just a super flux, they had left.”

The source further said, “There will be reaction from the ECOWAS Secretariat. ECOWAS will react appropriately because I remember on Thursday, a delegation of ECOWAS, a ministerial committee of ECOWAS was supposed to go to Niger but they didn’t go because there was a flight problem.

“Like I said, the main reaction will come from the ECOWAS Secretariat and our Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs.”