President Bola Tinubu and leaders of ECOWAS countries are currently meeting in Abuja.

The 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government is taking place at the State House Conference Centre, in Abuja.

Leaders of West African countries at the meeting include President Julius Bio (Sierra Leone, ECOWAS Chair), President Patrice Talon (Benin), José Maria Neves (Cabo Verde) and Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire).

Others are Adama Barrow (The Gambia), John Mahama (Ghana), Umaro Embaló (Guinea-Bissau), Joseph Boakai (Liberia), Bassirou Faye (Senegal) and Faure Gnassingbé (Togo).

The meeting is coming against the backdrop of five turbulent years for West Africa, which saw coups in Mali (2020, 2021), Burkina Faso (twice in 2022), and Niger (2023).

The latest incidents include an attempted coup in Benin on December 7, 2025, and renewed instability in Guinea-Bissau.

At the time of filing this report, details of the meeting are yet to be disclosed.

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death of the state’s Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Governor Diri gave the directive on Saturday while receiving former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Government House in Yenagoa.

Ewhrudjakpo reportedly collapsed in his office on Thursday and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Reacting to the incident, the governor condemned what he described as widespread misinformation and speculation on social media, warning against any attempt to politicise the deputy governor’s death.

“I want to make an appeal. I have seen people politicise his death. In Ijaw land, there is no enmity in death. Let nobody politicise the passing of our dearly beloved deputy governor,” Diri said.

“If anyone truly loves him, this is the time to show it. I have directed that an autopsy be carried out to reveal the cause of his death. There is a lot of nonsense going on on social media.”

The governor further urged the public to focus on mourning and honouring the late deputy governor, noting that the state government had declared three working days of mourning in his honour.

“If anyone is issuing statements to eulogise him, let it end there. Let us mourn him because Bayelsa State is in a mourning mood,” he added.

Governor Diri also called for unity and love among the people, reminding them of the inevitability of death.

Speaking during the condolence visit, former President Goodluck Jonathan described the late Ewhrudjakpo as a committed and dedicated individual who played a key role in the activities of his foundation.

“For me, he was someone my foundation and I will never forget. He represented the governor in all our programs,” Jonathan said, adding that Ewhrudjakpo worked tirelessly in that role, even more than when he served as deputy governor.

The founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, has said he will never take part in partisan politics, not for even billions of naira.

He stated that no amount of money, including “$1 billion,” (1.4 Trillion naira) would make him join politics.

Oyedepo made this known during an impartation service at Shiloh 2025 held at the church’s headquarters in Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State.

He explained that partisan politics is not part of his life’s calling and that is why he has chosen to stay away from it.

In his words: “In 2015, I warned the church that trouble was coming. Didn’t trouble come?

“Partisan politics is off my calling. If you give me $1 billion to join politics, I won’t, because it is off my course.”

The bishop also said the world is in urgent need of God’s intervention because of the times we are living in.

According to him, believers are being trained as an end-time army to bring solutions to national and global problems, similar to what biblical figures like Joseph and Daniel did.