As President Bola Tinubu’s tenure as the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS elapses on July 9, 2024, presidents and representatives of 12 member states will converge on the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, for an Extraordinary Summit on Sunday, July 8.

The meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 11:00 am, would likely see the West African leaders pick a new chair to steer the affairs of the bloc for the next year.

However, there are indications that leaders may extend Tinubu’s tenure to give him time to possibly win back Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso into the bloc.

A Presidency source who preferred to remain anonymous as he was not authorised to speak on the issue told our correspondent, “Some people say he should hand over and others say he should continue. But they will decide tomorrow.”

Tinubu was elected Chairman of the Authority at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the regional bloc held last July in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau.

“We will take democracy seriously. Democracy is very tough, but it is the form of government,” the Nigerian leader said after he received handover documents from the outgoing Chairman, Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Embaló.

During his tenure, Tinubu highlighted the alarming levels of insecurity and the increasing pattern of military coups in the region, stressing that these issues demand urgent and concerted efforts from all member states.

A few weeks after he assumed office, however, Nigeria’s neighbour to the north, Niger Republic, fell to putschists when President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted by members of his guard led by its commander, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.