Over the past few hours, a message credited to the President of the ECOWAS Commission has been circulating on social networking sites. The message concerns the number of presidential terms in ECOWAS Member States.

The ECOWAS Directorate of Communication wishes to hereby issue a CLEAR AND FORMAL DISCLAIMER concerning these statements attributed to His Excellency Mr Claude Kassi Brou.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission declines responsibility for the statements ascribed to him. At no time did he make the statements nor did he participate in a meeting in Abidjan in the course of the week.

The ECOWAS Commission informs the public that it will take all necessary steps to ensure that the persons responsible for the defamatory and provocative act, propagated via social networking sites, are found and brought to justice.

Abuja, 26 January 2020

Directorate of Communication

ECOWAS Commission