Nigeria bolsters ECOWAS unity as Shettima attends Guinea’s Presidential inauguration

Abdullateef Fowewe

Nigeria has reaffirmed its pivotal leadership within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with Vice President Kashim Shettima representing President Bola Tinubu at the swearing-in of Guinea-Conakry’s President Mamadi Doumbouya.

Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications (Office of the Vice President) in a statement highlighted the event as “an endorsement and upliftment of the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) spirit of unity and togetherness.”

Shettima’s attendance underscored Nigeria’s commitment to democratic restoration in the sub-region following Doumbouya’s victory in the December 2025 elections, marking the end of a four-year military transition.

The ceremony at General Lansana Conté Stadium in Conakry drew African leaders from Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, and South Africa, alongside ECOWAS Commission President Dr Omar Alieu Touray and presidents from Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania.

Amid massive citizen turnout and fanfare, Doumbouya pledged in his address to “uphold his country’s constitution and the tenets of democracy, transparent governance, and the interest of all Guineans at all times,” vowing that “the country’s peace and national cohesion would not be compromised.”

Under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, Nigeria positions itself as a stabilising force for regional prosperity.

Shettima’s visit also aims to expand economic ties between the nations, with Doumbouya set to serve a single seven-year term under Guinea’s revised constitution.