President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s two-year leadership of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State concluded amid deepening political and security turmoil in West Africa. His tenure, which began in July 2023, coincided with unprecedented challenges—including the military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and their subsequent withdrawal from the regional bloc in January 2025 to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
At home, Tinubu faced mounting criticism over Nigeria’s economic hardships, high inflation, and insecurity, all of which impacted his regional leadership. Despite these hurdles, he remained vocal in calling for constitutional order and took a hardline stance on military regimes, though ECOWAS’s threats of military intervention—particularly in Niger—failed to materialize, raising questions about the bloc’s cohesion and capacity. During his chairmanship, ECOWAS attempted to operationalize the Standby Force to counter terrorism and insurgency in the Sahel. However, funding delays and political divisions stalled its implementation. Tinubu also supported renewed efforts for a single regional currency and deeper economic integration, though these initiatives made limited progress.
As Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio assumes the ECOWAS chairmanship, attention now turns to how the bloc will restore credibility and address the structural issues that led to its fragmentation under Tinubu’s watch. Analysts say his legacy will depend on ECOWAS’s ability to rebuild trust among member states and reassert its leadership role in West Africa.
