President Bola Tinubu on Thursday played host to the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, in a closed-door meeting at the State House, Abuja—marking a diplomatic farewell weeks before the Gambian diplomat officially steps down from the regional bloc’s top executive post.
Touray arrived at the Presidential Villa in the company of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye. While the full details of their discussions remain under wraps, the visit is widely seen as a courtesy call ahead of the formal transition of leadership at the Commission.
A seasoned career diplomat, Touray took office on July 3, 2022, after being unanimously nominated by The Gambia and endorsed by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for the 2022–2026 term. He took over from Ivorian diplomat Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, who led the Commission from 2018.
Touray’s diplomatic résumé includes a stint as The Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and later as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under former President Yahya Jammeh—a role from which he was dismissed in September 2009. He later served with the Islamic Development Bank before returning to the diplomatic fold.
As Touray prepares to hand over the baton, his tenure at the helm of ECOWAS has been marked by mounting regional challenges, including political instability, security threats, and economic pressures across West Africa. Thursday’s meeting with Tinubu—who is also the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State underscores Nigeria’s pivotal role in shaping the bloc’s next chapter.
