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Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja for Freetown, Sierra Leone, to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 69th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The summit, scheduled for July 19 at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre in Freetown, will bring together West African leaders to deliberate on regional peace, security, democratic governance, economic integration and sustainable development.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, in a statement issued on Sunday, said Shettima will participate in the meeting on behalf of Tinubu.
“The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has departed Abuja to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 69th Ordinary Session of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Freetown, Sierra Leone,” the statement said.
He added that the Vice President “will join other political and business leaders across West Africa and beyond at the Summit scheduled to take place at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre, Freetown.”
The meeting is expected to focus on key policy decisions and strategic resolutions, and to reaffirm the leaders’ collective commitment to peace, democracy, economic growth, and regional integration.
The Presidency noted that the summit is part of ECOWAS’s mid-year statutory meetings and will bring together Heads of State and Government, ministers, senior government officials, and representatives of regional institutions.
The gathering would advance the Community’s shared priorities of security, democratic governance, economic integration, trade, infrastructure and sustainable development.
Shettima would return to Abuja after concluding his official engagements in Sierra Leone.
The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government is the highest decision-making body of the 15-member regional bloc and meets periodically to review political, economic and security developments across West Africa.
The 69th session comes as the bloc continues efforts to address terrorism, unconstitutional changes of government, economic cooperation and regional integration amid evolving security and political challenges.
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
VP Shettima Departs Abuja For 69th ECOWAS Summit in Freetown
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima @officialSKSM has departed Abuja to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR @officialABAT, at the 69th Ordinary Session of the Authority of… pic.twitter.com/awNdjnLe7m
— Stanley Nkwocha (@stanleynkwocha_) July 19, 2026
