West African leaders ended a day-long summit in Mali on Thursday without a deal that will end the raging political crisis in the country.
The intervention failed to seal a deal, but the Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou during the talks along with the leaders of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria said Western African bloc ECOWAS would hold a summit on Monday, 27 July for further deliberations on the issues raised.
But, President Issoufou, who is also the Chairman, ECOWAS Heads of Government, said the body will do all it can to resolve the political crisis in Mali.
He gave the assurance at a briefing after hours of consultations in the nation’s capital, Bamako, on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, Host President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Presidents Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire.
They were briefed by ECOWAS Special Envoy, former President Goodluck Jonathan, Imam Mahmoud Dicko, representatives of opposition alliance, M5-RFP and civil society organisations.
President Keita also gave a brief on the socio-political situation, especially the disagreements that spiralled into protests and violence.
Issoufou said the regional leaders agreed there would be a need for a compromise to protect the peace and integrity of Mali.
He noted that allowing the political crisis to linger would affect other West African countries.
The ECOWAS Chairman commended Jonathan for accepting to lead the mission to the country to broker peace.
In his remarks, Akufo-Addo hinted that the ECOWAS protocol would be followed.
He said the tenet adopted by the body spells out that a President can only be voted into power, and voted out by election, except he completes his tenure.
President Buhari returned to Nigeria at the end of the meeting returned to Nigeria.