Bio not first Sierra Leonean President to serve as ECOWAS Chairperson

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Claim: Sierra Leone’s Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh (PhD), in an X post claimed that President Julius Maada Bio is the first Sierra Leonean President to serve as Chairman of the Authority of Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS in the 50 years of its existence.

Verdict: False! Siaka Stevens was the first Sierra Leonean President to serve as Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS from 1981 to 1982, and not President Bio, who was elected on Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Full Text

The Economic Commission of West African States – (ECOWAS), was established on Wednesday, May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Abuja where 15 African nations namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, signed the 1975 Lagos Treaty.

Currently, three of the 15 member nations of ECOWAS, namely Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, have withdrawn from the community and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). 

However, ECOWAS’s activities have not halted. The community, during its 67th Ordinary Session of Heads of States, unanimously elected Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, as ECOWAS Chairperson. He succeeded Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has stirred the bloc’s affairs in the last two years.

A few hours after the news of President Bio’s election to the ECOWAS top seat broke out, congratulatory messages flooded the internet.

David Moinina Sengeh (PhD), the Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Minister of the Republic of Sierra Leone, claimed in an X post archived here that President Bio “is the first Sierra Leonean President to serve as Chairman of the Authority of Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS.”

The Chief Minister’s post quickly attracted mixed reactions from some Sierra Leoneans who doubted his claim, which he shared widely on his LinkedIn and Facebook handles. 

DUBAWA decided to verify the claim to set the records straight and accurately, and prevent the spread of misinformation.

Verification

Our researcher first conducted an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) search using keywords on Google.com to double-check President Bio’s election as the new ECOWAS Chairperson and found the claim to be TRUE.

Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Media to the Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, confirmed President Bio’s election as the new ECOWAS Chairperson. Tinubu is the immediate-past ECOWAS Chairperson whose term ended on June 22, 2025.

An additional keyword search revealed reports about the issue from credible media outlets, including TVC News Nigeria, Financial Afrik, AP News, and Daily Trust. 

Further checks reveal that Siaka Stevens, a former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, previously served as ECOWAS chairperson from 1981 to 1982. Stevens was the first Sierra Leonean president to serve the regional bloc. 

Since 1975 till date, a total of 38 Heads of States from 14 ECOWAS countries have served as chairpersons of the West African bloc: Nigeria (10), Ghana(4), Senegal (4), Togo (4), Sierra Leone (2), Burkina Faso (2), Gambia (2), Benin (2), Niger (2), Guinea(2), Ivory Coast (1), Mali (1), Guinea Bissaue (1),  and Liberia (1). Below is the list of ECOWAS chairpersons since 1975.

1. Yakubu Gowon – Nigeria – 28 May 1975 – 29 July 1975
2. Gnassingbé Eyadéma – Togo – 29 July 1975 – 13 September 1977
3. Olusegun Obasanjo – Nigeria – 13 September 1977 – 30 September 1979
4. Léopold Sédar Senghor – Senegal – 30 September 1979 – 31 December 1980
5. Gnassingbé Eyadéma – Togo – 1980–1981
6. Siaka Stevens – Sierra Leone – 1981–1982
7. Mathieu Kérékou – Benin – 1982–1983
8. Ahmed Sékou Touré – Guinea – 1983–1984
9. Lansana Conté – Guinea – 1984–1985
10.  Muhammadu Buhari – Nigeria – 1985 – 27 August 1985
11. Ibrahim Babangida – Nigeria – 27 August 1985 – 1989
12. Dawda Jawara – Gambia – 1989–1990
13. Blaise Compaoré – Burkina Faso – 1990–1991
14. Dawda Jawara – Gambia – 1991–1992
15. Abdou Diouf – Senegal – 1992–1993
16. Nicéphore Soglo – Benin – 1993–1994
17. Jerry Rawlings – Ghana – 1994 – 27 July 1996
18. Sani Abacha – Nigeria – 27 July 1996 – 8 June 1998
19. Abdulsalami Abubakar – Nigeria – 9 June 1998 – 1999
20. Gnassingbé Eyadéma – Togo – 1999–1999
21. Alpha Oumar Konaré – Mali – 1999 – 21 December 2001
22. Abdoulaye Wade – Senegal – 21 December 2001 – 31 January 2003
23. John Kufuor – Ghana – 31 January 2003 – 19 January 2005
24. Mamadou Tandja – Niger – 19 January 2005 – 19 January 2007
25. Blaise Compaoré – Burkina Faso – 19 January 2007 – 19 December 2008
26. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua – Nigeria – 19 December 2008 – 18 February 2010
27. Goodluck Jonathan – Nigeria – 18 February 2010 – 17 February 2012
28. Alassane Ouattara – Ivory Coast – 17 February 2012 – 17 February 2013
29. John Mahama – Ghana – 17 February 2013 – 19 May 2015
30. Macky Sall – Senegal – 19 May 2015 – 4 June 2016
31. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – Liberia – 4 June 2016 – 4 June 2017
32. Faure Gnassingbé – Togo – 4 June 2017 – 31 July 2018
33. Muhammadu Buhari – Nigeria – 31 July 2018 – 29 June 2019
34. Mahamadou Issoufou – Niger – 29 June 2019 – 2 June 2020
35. Nana Akufo-Addo – Ghana – 2 June 2020 – 3 July 2022
36. Umaro Sissoco Embaló – Guinea-Bissau – 3 July 2022 – 9 July 2023
37. Bola Tinubu – Nigeria – 9 July 2023 – 22 June 2025
38. Julius Maada Bio – Sierra Leone – 22 June 2025 – Present

List of ECOWAS Chairpersons Past and Present compiled by Alusine Rehme Wilson – DUBAWA 2025 Kwame KariKari Fact-Checking OSINT Fellow, sources :  (The Nation Online & ECOWAS website ) 

Conclusion 

David Moinina Sengeh’s claim that President Bio is the first Sierra Leonean President to serve as the ECOWAS Chairperson in the regional bloc’s 50 years of existence is FALSE. Siaka Stevens, a former President of Sierra Leone, had previously served as ECOWAS chairperson from 1981 to 1982.