Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, is representing Nigeria today at an emergency meeting of leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, holding in Lome, the capital city of Togo.
The meeting is to take stock on developments of the prevailing security and political situation in Guinea-Bissau.
ECOWAS leaders will receive a report on the situation, deliberate on the presentation and issue a communique at the end of the meeting.
Prof. Osinbajo, who is accompanied to the meeting by Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, is expected back in Abuja later today.
In February, ECOWAS has imposed sanctions on 20 Guinea-Bissau politicians and businessmen, including travel bans and asset freezes, accusing them of undermining efforts to resolve a prolonged political crisis.
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The decision followed the nomination by President Jose Vaz to the post of prime minister late January, in violation of a 2016 ECOWAS-brokered deal.
Among those targeted by the sanctions were members of Vaz’s parliamentary faction as well have his son, Emerson Goudiaby Vaz.
“The Conakry Accord has not been implemented and as a consequence it is appropriate to apply sanctions to those falling short,” ECOWAS said in a statement.
For over two years, Vaz has been embroiled in a bitter dispute within his own ruling African Party of the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde that has hobbled the government.
The impasse has sparked regular protest marches and raised fears of instability that diplomats fear could be exploited by drug traffickers, who have long used the turbulent nation as a transit point for shipments between South America and Europe.
