PRETORIA, July 7. /TASS/. Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has been re-elected as Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the second term, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.

According to the news agency, Tinubu was reelected unanimously at the ECOWAS summit, which is being held in Abuja.

The ECOWAS chairman is elected on a rotation basis from among the leaders of the member nations for a term of one year. However, the ECOWAS leaders have decided to reelect Tinubu for one more year amid the current situation within the community.

This January, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their decision to quit ECOWAS as soon as possible as they claim that the community is under the influence of foreign powers and has turned into a threat to its member nations. With these countries gone, ECOWAS will have 12 members.

Meanwhile, at their meeting on July 6, the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger made a decision to set up a confederation of Sahel countries.