President Bola Tinubu on Thursday received the outgoing President of the Economic Community of West African States Commission (ECOWAS), Dr Omar Touray, at the State House in Abuja.
Naijaonpoint reports that Touray was accompanied to the Presidential Villa by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye.
Photographs of the meeting were released by the State House media office, although details of the discussions between Tinubu and the Gambian diplomat were not immediately disclosed.
The visit comes weeks before Touray is expected to formally relinquish his position as head of the executive arm of the regional bloc.
Touray assumed office as President of the ECOWAS Commission on July 3, 2022, after he was unanimously nominated by the Government of The Gambia and endorsed by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. His tenure covered the 2022–2026 term.
He succeeded Ivorian diplomat Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, who served as President of the Commission between 2018 and 2022.
During Touray’s tenure, ECOWAS grappled with a number of political and security challenges across West Africa, including military takeovers, regional instability and efforts to strengthen economic and diplomatic cooperation among member states.
Before taking up the ECOWAS appointment, Touray had held several diplomatic positions in The Gambia.
He previously served as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and later became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.
Touray left the foreign affairs position in September 2009. He subsequently worked with the Islamic Development Bank before returning to diplomatic service and later emerging as President of the ECOWAS Commission.
