President Bola Tinubu on Thursday received the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, at the State House in Abuja.

Touray arrived at the Presidential Villa in the company of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, according to photographs released by the State House media office.

Details of the closed-door meeting were not immediately disclosed.

The meeting came weeks before Touray is expected to formally hand over leadership of the executive arm of the Economic Community of West African States.

A Gambian career diplomat, Touray assumed office as President of the ECOWAS Commission on July 3, 2022, after his unanimous nomination by the Gambian government and endorsement by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for a four-year term.

He succeeded Ivorian diplomat Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, who headed the Commission from 2018.

Before joining the ECOWAS Commission, Touray served as The Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and later as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under former President Yahya Jammeh.

He was dismissed from that position in September 2009 and subsequently worked with the Islamic Development Bank before returning to diplomatic service.

His tenure at the ECOWAS Commission has coincided with a period of significant challenges for the regional bloc, including political instability and the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the organisation.