ECOWAS moves to fix staffing crisis after member withdrawals

By Favour Ulebor, Abuja

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken steps to address a staffing crisis affecting its institutions across member states, following delays in recruitment, workforce shortages, and the recent withdrawal of three countries from the regional bloc.

Speaking at an extraordinary session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers held on Thursday in Abuja, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, said the intervention became necessary to tackle persistent administrative bottlenecks and outdated manual recruitment procedures that have slowed down staffing across the institutions.

According to him, the move is aimed at restoring balance and ensuring a fair, transparent, and inclusive hiring process after years of administrative delays, an ageing workforce, and the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from ECOWAS.

Dr Touray said the Commission was now seeking guidance from the Council of Ministers on how to distribute vacant positions equitably among the remaining member states and determine the status of staff with dual nationality.

He explained that over the past three years, the recruitment process had been constrained by existing staff regulations that limited management’s ability to speed up the filling of vacancies, leading to a gap between available positions and new hires.

He said ECOWAS has had to engage additional recruitment firms and is now working to introduce an e-recruitment system to fast-track applications and interviews.

He also noted that the sudden departure of staff from the three countries that exited ECOWAS had created a major vacuum, requiring urgent attention to restore balance and ensure representation from all member states.

Dr Touray further requested clarity on how to handle staff who hold dual nationality, emphasising the importance of inclusivity and fairness in a globalised environment.

He said, “In the last three years, we have managed to fill vacancies in our institutions using a staff regulation that, for a large part, constrains management’s ability to administratively expedite this process. It has therefore become necessary to refer to the Council from time to time to help us untangle the web.

“With the sudden departure of a large number of our workforce who are nationals of countries that exited from the organisation, namely Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, we are faced with the challenge of replacing them. We need the Council to guide us in the equitable distribution of the vacant positions among all the Member States without sacrificing competence.

“As our staff regulation did not provide any guidance on how to allocate vacant positions to specific Member States for the purpose of achieving equity, it has become necessary for Council to provide its guidance on the way forward.”

Earlier in her remarks, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, reaffirmed Nigeria’s support for ECOWAS, saying the exercise was vital to help the organisation operate at full capacity.

She assured participants of Nigeria’s support towards ensuring the success of the ECOWAS system.

“We fully recognise the importance of this exercise as an essential undertaking aimed at ensuring that all existing vacancies are duly filled,” she said.

Also speaking, Chair of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Musa Timothy Kabba, urged fairness and inclusivity in the recruitment process to strengthen regional unity and cooperation.

Kabba emphasised that the integrity of the recruitment process was critical to restoring confidence among ECOWAS citizens, many of whom look to the institution for leadership and accountability.

He said merit, competence, and regional balance should guide every appointment to maintain transparency and sustain the community’s reputation as a people-centred organisation.

He also stressed the importance of avoiding political interference or favouritism in the recruitment process, adding that the credibility of ECOWAS depends on the professionalism of its workforce.

He said, “Our focus should not only be on equitable distribution across Member States but also on fairness and inclusivity to ensure a shared vision for the future.

“The strength of ECOWAS lies in its people. We must ensure that every appointment reflects our diversity while maintaining high standards of competence and integrity. Only through such transparency can we rebuild trust and unity across the region,” Kabba added.

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