Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says he is hopeful that the three Sahel countries, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which recently withdrew from ECOWAS, would soon return to the bloc.

The minister of the assurance when he received the ECOWAS Parliament’s Speaker Memounatou Ibrahima, who led a delegation from the parliament on a courtesy visit to him on Friday in Abuja.

DAILY POST reports that the visit was part of the parliament’s efforts to strengthen intergovernmental relations and governance ahead of its 25th anniversary later in November.

“We will continue to work hard towards the success of ECOWAS and all member states, including the three recently withdrawn ones, we are encouraging them to come back.

“As we keep saying, we have not closed the door on their return, we are confident that they will return because they are part and parcel of the region, it is just a matter of time,” he said.

The minister stated that although the three countries exited ECOWAS, Nigeria and other member countries would continue relating with them as neighbours and work together in certain areas for mutual benefits.

He called on the West African media to de-emphasise the issues of their unfortunate exit and instead focus attention on the subregion’s economic development.

Tuggar also advised the media and other West African stakeholders to highlight the prevailing positive developmental projects in the remaining twelve member states.

Tuggar listed such projects to include the West African Power Pool, ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation scheme, Abidjan- Lagos Corridor, Abidjan –Dakar Corridor, among others, that would enhance regional development.

According to him, the ECOWAS Parliament is an embodiment of the representation of the citizens of member states with demonstrated commitment toward constitutional and democratic governance.

DAILY POST reports that the trio country officially exited ECOWAS on 29th January, 2025.

Speaking earlier, Ibrahima told the minister that the delegation visited him to update him on the activities of the parliament over the last one and half years, as well as its future activities.

She revealed that the parliament, which was established in 2000, was preparing for its 25th Anniversary as a regional legislature.

“We are working on how we can have some capability and enhancement so that we can have more legislative role in the ECOWAS Community.

“We are looking at how we can support ECOWAS in all their programmes and activities,” she said.