Abuja, Nigeria – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, has called on West African countries to reconsider the standard four-year presidential tenure, describing it as inadequate for achieving meaningful development and consolidating democracy.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of the Regional Partnership for Democracy (RPD) Programme in Abuja on Monday, Musah highlighted the pressing challenges facing the region, including unconstitutional changes of government, judicial manipulation, and exclusion of opposition parties.
“Take a country like Nigeria or Ghana, where the mandate of a democratically elected president does not exceed four years, and practically speaking, four years is not enough even to initiate major developmental programmes to deal with the core challenges on our continent. We need to look at this and then look at the whole issue of tenure limits in West Africa. I think that should also be on the agenda of regional discourse,” he said.
Musah, who represented ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray, said the RPD Programme, launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Federal Government of Nigeria, comes at a critical juncture for the region.
“It is being launched at a time when the social contract between the state and the citizenry is unravelling at the seams because democracy as practised in Africa—and in our sub-region—is notoriously thin on delivering dividends, basic infrastructure, and social safety nets for the vulnerable, not to talk about safety and security,” Musah warned.
He also pointed to an increase in military coups, unconstitutional extensions of power by incumbents, and the compounding effects of global tensions, misinformation on AI-powered social media, terrorism, and violent extremism.
Despite these challenges, Musah stressed that regime security cannot substitute for democracy and development, noting that “hard security without development will eventually come crashing down as an edifice built on sandy foundations.”
He urged UNDP to focus on priority areas including the nature of political parties in the region and the debate over the current liberal democratic model.
Musah’s comments come amid renewed scrutiny of presidential term limits in West Africa. In November 2025, Benin’s parliament approved a constitutional amendment extending presidential and legislative terms from five to seven years, while maintaining a two-term limit for the presidency.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, a 2024 proposal for a six-year single presidential term was rejected by the House of Representatives.
