By Iddi Yire

Accra, June 23, GNA – Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio was on Sunday elected Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government. 

He was elected the 67th Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS in Abuja, Nigeria. 

President Bio, who will be serving a one-year term in the rotating chairmanship, takes over from President Ahmed Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, amid growing challenges in the subregion. 

President Bio, a former Brigadier General, briefly served as military head of state in 1996.  

He transitioned to civilian leadership, winning the Sierra Leonean presidential election in 2018 and securing re-election in 2023 amidst significant political contestation. 

His ascension to the ECOWAS chairmanship comes at a crucial juncture for the regional bloc.  

President Bio inherits a complex geopolitical landscape marked by lingering post-election tensions in his own country, including alleged coup attempts and the continued exile of his predecessor, former President Bai Koroma, in Nigeria. 

The formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and their subsequent withdrawal from ECOWAS, has further compounded the challenges facing ECOWAS. 

President John Dramani Mahama, who participated in the Abuja Summit, has since returned home. 

GNA 

Edited by Benjamin Mensah