A former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Doyin Okupe, has congratulated President Bola Tinubu on his re-election as chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tinubu was re-elected on Sunday at Abuja’s 65th Ordinary Session of the bloc.

Okupe, a former presidential spokesperson, in a congratulatory message on Monday said: “I congratulate President Bola Tinubu on his re-election as the leader of ECOWAS.

“It is difficult for me to understand why it is the destiny of President Tinubu to come into position of leadership, both at national and regional levels, at periods of hardship and difficulty.

“But I pray for divine guidance and wisdom to navigate these turbulent waters.”

According to him, in this new tenure, Tinubu’s main agenda should be to bring back the leadership of the Sahel Nations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to the ECOWAS.

He said that the first step would be to reconcile with Nigeria’s immediate neighbours, the Republic of Niger.

Okupe advised Tinubu to lean on the support of former President Muhammadu Buhari and other influential Northern leaders with strong ties with Republic of Niger.

“The Africa Union as a body can be made to officially spearhead this reconcilatory agenda while a diplomatic outreach to Russia for this purpose, especially if handled at the level of the AU, will certainly be helpful,” he noted.