ECOWAS has yet to receive formal communication from Burkina Faso, Mali, or Niger Republic regarding their withdrawal from the Community.
In a statement released on Sunday, the Commission stated that it has been “working assiduously with these countries to restore constitutional order.” Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali are vital members of the Community, and the Authority is still committed to finding a negotiated solution to the political deadlock.”
“The ECOWAS Commission remains seized with the development and shall make further pronouncements as the situation evolves,” the statement went on to say.
Earlier on Sunday, the military regimes of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger declared their immediate resignation from the West African grouping ECOWAS, claiming it had become a menace to member states.
The leaders of the three Sahel states issued a statement stating that leaving the Economic Community of West African States was a “sovereign decision” that should be implemented “without delay.”
The regimes, which are struggling with Islamist violence and poverty, have had contentious relations with ECOWAS since coups occurred in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Mali in 2020.
All three, who were founding members of the union in 1975, were suspended from ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali suffering severe penalties as the bloc attempted to push for the early return of civilian governments through elections.
The sanctions were a “irrational and unacceptable posture” at a time when the three “have decided to take their destiny in hand”—a reference to the coups that overthrew civilian governments.
In recent months, the three nations have stiffened their positions and formed a “Alliance of Sahel States”.
According to the presidents’ joint statement, the 15-member ECOWAS, “under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to member states and peoples”.