From Tinubu to Bio: Reform ECOWAS or Watch It Collapse
By Madi Jobarteh
The social, economic, and political situation in West Africa has rarely been this dire. Across the region, poverty, inequality, coups, and conflict persist nearly seventy years after Ghana became the first to gain independence in 1957. The dream of unity and prosperity that inspired our founding leaders has dimmed, even as they created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975 to achieve that vision.
But ECOWAS, rather than being a driver of democratic development and shared prosperity, has become best known for conflict resolution and peacekeeping. Its interventions have often saved lives, but they have not built institutions, strengthened democracy, or empowered citizens. The bloc’s record today is one of inconsistency, elite protectionism, and shrinking credibility.
From Tinubu’s Failures to Bio’s Dilemma
When Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed the ECOWAS chairmanship in 2023, the bloc faced unprecedented challenges. Three member states – Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso – walked out to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), and with Guinea remained under military rule. Tinubu first promised to use force to restore constitutional order, but his threats evaporated into silence. ECOWAS neither acted nor reformed; instead, it watched as these countries turned their backs on regional integration.
In June 2025, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio succeeded Tinubu as chair. Bio pledged to restore constitutional order, deepen democracy, promote economic integration, and rebuild ECOWAS’s credibility. His energetic regional tour to meet fellow presidents was a good start. But good intentions are not enough.
West Africa’s problem is not a lack of resources; it is a lack of power where it belongs. For decades, ECOWAS has concentrated authority in the hands of presidents while denying real power to citizens and the very institutions meant to protect them. From chair to chair, the pattern is painfully familiar: summits, communiqués, and photo-ops while constitutions are bent, courts ignored, elections rigged, and civic freedoms crushed.
Unless Bio leads a structural refoundation of ECOWAS, transferring power from presidents to people, the bloc will continue its descent into irrelevance.
The Problem Is Structural, Not Personal
ECOWAS is not failing because its leaders lack character; it is failing because its structure shields incumbents. The Authority of Heads of State dominates every organ, reducing the Commission to a secretariat, the Parliament to a talk shop, and the Community Court of Justice to a powerless symbol. In this arrangement, presidents act as both players and referees in a game where only they can win.
The irony is that ECOWAS already has the right instruments on paper such as the Revised Treaty (1993), the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention (1999), and the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001), among others. But these texts are routinely ignored by the very people they are meant to restrain. The result is a regional order that rewards impunity and punishes accountability.
A Blueprint for a People’s ECOWAS
If President Bio truly wants to be remembered as a reformer, he must lead a treaty-level overhaul of ECOWAS anchored in four core reforms:
- A Directly Elected ECOWAS Parliament
The current Parliament is largely ceremonial and powerless. Members are nominated by the national parliaments. To give legitimacy and power to the ECOWAS Parliament, it must be directly elected by citizens across member states and granted real legislative, oversight, and budgetary powers. No major ECOWAS decision such as treaties, sanctions, or appointments should take effect without parliamentary approval. - An Enforceable ECOWAS Court of Justice
The ECOWAS Court should no longer issue judgments that gather dust. To make the court a truly legitimate, effective and consequential body, member states must incorporate its rulings into domestic law through a supremacy clause, with automatic sanctions for defiance or non-compliance. Justice cannot depend on presidential discretion or the goodwill of states. - An Independent ECOWAS Commission
The Commission must be professional, not political. Commissioners should be selected on merit through transparent processes, accountable to Parliament, and protected from presidential interference. Its budget should be autonomous, with the power to monitor compliance and expose corruption without fear. - Limit Presidential Power at the Regional Level
The Authority of Heads of State should no longer operate as a throne. Its decisions and acts must be subject to parliamentary oversight and judicial review. Presidents who flout constitutions, manipulate term limits or suppress opponents at home should be barred from voting on related ECOWAS matters.
These four pillars would transform ECOWAS into a genuine community of laws, not of men; to make it a regional governance model where citizens, not presidents, are sovereign.
Bio’s Moment of Truth
President Bio faces a defining choice: to manage crises or to change the rules of the game. He can either continue firefighting and issuing statements after every coup and electoral dispute or lead a democratic refoundation that will outlive his tenure.
For this reason, he should announce a 12-month ECOWAS Reform Agenda with clear milestones:
- Table draft treaty amendments on parliamentary elections, court enforcement, and commission autonomy.
- Convene the People’s ECOWAS Convention with civil society, bar associations, youth movements, and trade unions to co-design reforms.
- Pilot direct ECOWAS parliamentary elections within volunteer states.
- Enforce automatic sanctions for non-compliance with court rulings and anti-corruption standards.
Why Reform Matters Now
Citizens are losing faith in ECOWAS because it has become a pact of mutual protection among leaders. Without change, even more states may drift toward isolationism and authoritarianism. A reformed ECOWAS rooted in rule of law and public legitimacy can instead attract investment, restore regional trust, and rebuild the path toward integration.
The Sahel split offers both a warning and an opportunity. Reintegration should not be about backroom deals among generals and presidents but about a credible return to constitutional governance overseen by independent regional institutions.
The Bottom Line
West Africa does not need another summit. It needs a new social contract between leaders and citizens. Either Bio steers ECOWAS toward a People’s Community where Parliament legislates, Courts enforce, and citizens decide, or he will preside over its steady decay into a Presidents’ Club that history will soon forget. The hour demands more than diplomacy. It demands courage; the courage to build democratic architecture that cannot be bent by the whims of men.
Reform ECOWAS Today. Or Perish!
