Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, has called on West African countries to reconsider the standard four-year presidential term, describing it as too short to achieve meaningful development and consolidate democracy.
Speaking at the signing of the Regional Partnership for Democracy (RPD) Programme in Abuja on Monday, Musah highlighted challenges such as unconstitutional changes of government, judicial manipulation, and exclusion of opposition parties. Representing ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray, he noted, “Take a country like Nigeria or Ghana, where a president’s mandate does not exceed four years—practically, four years is not enough to implement major developmental programmes addressing core continental challenges.”
Musah said the RPD Programme, launched in partnership with the UN Development Programme and the Nigerian government, comes at a critical time as “the social contract between the state and citizenry is unraveling” due to weak democratic delivery, inadequate infrastructure, social protection gaps, and insecurity. He also cited the upsurge in coups, unconstitutional extensions of power, terrorism, violent extremism, and misinformation amplified by AI-driven social media.
“Regime security cannot replace democracy and development. Hard security without development will eventually collapse,” Musah warned, urging the UNDP to focus on political party reforms and debates on liberal democracy in the region.
His remarks come amid renewed scrutiny of presidential term limits in West Africa. In November 2025, Benin’s parliament extended presidential and legislative terms from five to seven years while retaining a two-term limit, whereas Nigeria’s House of Representatives rejected a bill proposing a single six-year presidential term in 2024.
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