ECOWAS Summit: Tinubu, regional presidents meet as coup threats spread across West Africa

President Bola Tinubu is meeting with leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja to discuss regional security and political stability.

The meeting is the 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government and is holding at the State House Conference Centre.

Leaders attending the session include President Julius Bio of Sierra Leone, who is also the ECOWAS Chair, President Patrice Talon of Benin, José Maria Neves of Cabo Verde, and Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire.

Others present are Adama Barrow of The Gambia, John Mahama of Ghana, Umaro Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Joseph Boakai of Liberia, Bassirou Faye of Senegal, and Faure Gnassingbé of Togo.

The meeting comes at a difficult time for West Africa. Over the past five years, the region has experienced several military coups, including in Mali (2020 and 2021), Burkina Faso (twice in 2022), and Niger (2023).

More recently, there was an attempted coup in Benin on December 7, 2025, as well as renewed political tension in Guinea-Bissau.

As of the time this report was filed, ECOWAS had not released full details of the discussions or decisions taken at the meeting.