Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised West African leaders under the ECOWAS Authority. He accused them of failing to promote the rule of law and ignoring the ECOWAS Court’s decisions.
In a statement titled “End Disobedience of ECOWAS Courts”, Falana revealed a troubling trend. He said 154 court judgements had been ignored by ECOWAS member states as of December 2024.
Nigeria leads with 44 unenforced judgements. Togo follows with 27 and Guinea with 15. Others include:
Mali (10), Sierra Leone (9), Niger (8), Côte d’Ivoire (8), Senegal (8),
Ghana (6), Benin (5), Burkina Faso (5), Liberia (4),
The Gambia (3), Cabo Verde (1), Guinea Bissau (1).
Falana condemned the leaders for showing “disdain” for the court. He argued that their refusal to obey the court weakens democracy across the region.
“As a result,” he warned, “West Africa continues to witness unconstitutional changes of government.”
Interestingly, Falana reminded them that some former leaders turned to the same court for justice after leaving office. These include Charles Taylor (Liberia), Laurent Gbagbo (Côte d’Ivoire), and Boni Yayi (Benin), among others.
Even Mrs. Doe, widow of Liberian warlord Samuel Doe, once secured judgement from the court.
Under Article 24 of the ECOWAS Court, each country must appoint a national authority to enforce rulings. Nigeria designated the Attorney-General for this in 2014.
Therefore, Falana urged President Bola Tinubu to take urgent action. He asked him to instruct Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to enforce the judgements without delay.
“It is shameful,” Falana said, “that Nigeria tops the list of violators while President Tinubu chairs ECOWAS.”
He added, “To end this embarrassment, Nigeria must lead by example.”
Tinubu: ECOWAS Is Still Strong
At the ECOWAS Golden Jubilee, President Tinubu praised the organisation’s progress. He said ECOWAS has upheld democracy through election monitoring, mediation, and legal institutions.
According to him, “The ECOWAS Court and Parliament continue to promote accountability, rule of law, and people-focused governance.”
