Prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised West African leaders under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for failing to uphold the rule of law, particularly by disregarding the decisions of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

In a statement titled “End Disobedience of ECOWAS Courts,” Falana pointed to the non-enforcement of 154 court judgements by member states as of December 2024. He said Nigeria tops the list with 44 unenforced judgements, followed by Togo with 27 and Guinea with 15. Other countries include Mali (10), Sierra Leone (9), Niger (8), Côte d’Ivoire (8), Senegal (8), Ghana (6), Benin (5), The Gambia (3), Liberia (4), Burkina Faso (5), Cabo Verde (1), and Guinea Bissau (1).

Falana lamented that ECOWAS leaders have failed to uphold democratic standards, which has contributed to ongoing unconstitutional changes of government in the region. 

He also condemned the leaders’ attitude towards the court’s rulings, noting their frequent disregard for the legal authority of the institution.

He recalled that several former leaders who once ignored court judgements later approached the ECOWAS Court for protection of their own human rights after leaving office. 

These include Charles Taylor of Liberia, Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire, Boni Yayi of Benin, Mamadou Tanja of Niger, and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso. 

He also noted that Mrs. Doe, widow of the late Liberian president Samuel Doe, had successfully secured a judgement from the court.

Falana, a former president of the West African Bar Association, explained that under Article 24 of the ECOWAS Court’s protocol, each member state must designate a competent national authority to receive and execute its judgements. 

In Nigeria’s case, he said, this responsibility has been assigned to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice since 2014.

He called on President Bola Tinubu to instruct the current Attorney-General, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to ensure immediate compliance with all outstanding ECOWAS Court rulings, stressing that Nigeria’s failure to do so is a source of great embarrassment, especially given that Tinubu currently serves as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

Falana’s appeal comes shortly after President Tinubu, speaking at ECOWAS’ Golden Jubilee celebrations, lauded the bloc’s record in upholding democratic values through institutions like the ECOWAS Parliament and Court of Justice. 

Tinubu had described the regional body as committed to accountability, rule of law, and governance centred on the people.