Date Published: 12/07/10

ECOWAS Leaders ask Gbagbo to quit

Leaders of the ECOWAS countries have asked incumbent Cote D'Ivoire President, Laurent Gbagbo to quit in the wake of the Presidential election dispute that is threatning the francophone country.

Gbagbo and opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara are both laying claim to the presidency, after they were declared winner by the Constitutional Council and the Electoral Body respectively, thus raising fears of a fresh crisis in the world's leading cocoa-producing nation.

The extra-ordinary summit of ECOWAS leaders, called to discuss the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, was held in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, Tuesday with leaders from seven Member States in attendance.

Host and ECOWAS Chair President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria; Presidents Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal; Faure Gnassingbe of Togo; Ahmadou Toumani Toure of Mali; John Atta Mills of Ghana; Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia were joined by the representatives of other member nations.

They all agreed that to avoid in a major political crisis, the incumbent, Gbagbo should quit and give way for the formal take over of Alassane Ouattara.

Cote D'Ivoire did not attend the extraordinary meeting.