Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has accused African leaders within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of failing to uphold the rule of law and consistently disregarding the decisions of the Community Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court).
In a statement titled ‘End Disobedience of ECOWAS Courts,’ Falana revealed that as of December 2024, a staggering 154 judgments from the ECOWAS Court remained unenforced by member states.
He highlighted that Nigeria leads this list with 44 unenforced judgments, followed by Togo with 27 and Guinea with 15. Other nations with significant numbers of unenforced judgments include Mali (10), Sierra Leone (nine), Niger (eight), Côte d’Ivoire (eight), Senegal (eight), Ghana (six), Benin (five), Liberia (four), Burkina Faso (five), The Gambia (three), Cabo Verde (one), and Guinea Bissau (one).
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“With respect, the ECOWAS leaders have failed to uphold democratic norms and the rule of law. Hence, the region has continued to witness an unconstitutional change of government. Without any legal and political justification whatsoever, the leaders have treated the decisions of the Community Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court) with disdain,” Falana said.
“In calling on the ECOWAS leaders to comply with the judgements of the ECOWAS Court, we are compelled to remind the ECOWAS leaders that some of their predecessors who did not comply with the decisions of the court have approached the same court for the protection of their human rights after they had left office.
“Such leaders include Charles Taylor of Liberia, Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire, Boni Yayi of Benin, Mamadou Tanja of Niger, Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso. Even Mrs. Doe, the widow of the late Liberian warlord, Samuel Doe, has secured a judgement in the court,” he added.
Femi Falana, who is also a former president of the West African Bar Association, pointed out that Article 24 of the ECOWAS Court mandates each member state to appoint a national authority responsible for receiving and processing the execution of the court’s judgments.
Given this, Falana urged President Bola Tinubu to instruct the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to ensure Nigeria’s immediate compliance with the ECOWAS Court’s decisions. Falana stated that this action is necessary to end the “unwarranted embarrassment” caused by Nigeria’s non-compliance.
“In 2014, Nigeria appointed the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice as the National Authority saddled with the responsibility to comply with the judgements of the ECOWAS Court.
“It is the height of embarrassment that Nigeria is on top of the list with the highest number of unenforced judgements at a time when President Bola Tinubu is the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, the highest organ of the ECOWAS.
“To end the unwarranted embarrassment, we urge President Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to ensure that Nigeria complies with the decisions of the ECOWAS Court without any further delay. It is time that Nigeria demonstrated leadership by example.
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