The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has appointed Dr Habibu Yaya Bappah as its new Commissioner for Internal Services. The swearing-in took place in Abuja, Nigeria, during the closing ceremony of the 95th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, with Hon Justice Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves, President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, presiding over the event.
Dr Bappah is a Nigerian national with more than twenty years of professional experience and over nine years serving at the executive level within the ECOWAS Commission’s leadership. His appointment highlights the organization’s ongoing efforts to strengthen institutional effectiveness and administrative efficiency in accordance with its Vision 2050.
Before taking on his new role, Dr Bappah was Special Adviser to the President of the ECOWAS Commission on Economic and Financial Integration and Partnerships. He also served as Executive Assistant to Commissioners responsible for Finance and Political Affairs, Peace and Security—positions that placed him at the center of administrative and policy operations.
Throughout his tenure at ECOWAS, Dr Bappah contributed to strategic management, institutional development, policy coordination, and program implementation. He provided high-level advice to the President of the Commission and supported decision-making processes across management bodies. He played a significant part in advancing reforms aimed at regulatory compliance, inter-departmental coordination, and operational efficiency.
His work also included supporting economic and financial governance reforms such as public finance management, resource mobilization, budget planning and execution. He helped align annual programs with ECOWAS’s strategic framework. In peace and security matters, he participated in preventive diplomacy missions, electoral assistance efforts, mediation processes, and regional initiatives.
Dr Bappah’s academic background includes ten years as a lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria where he specialized in international relations with an emphasis on regional integration and ECOWAS studies. He taught courses on comparative regionalism, development administration, international relations theory, and was active in university governance.
He holds a Doctorate in Political Science focused on ECOWAS institutional evolution; two master’s degrees—one specializing in economic integration under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme—and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies. Dr Bappah is fluent in English and French.
As Commissioner for Internal Services at ECOWAS, Dr Bappah is expected to apply his expertise to further improve internal administration through leadership in statutory processes as well as financial management and change management initiatives.
ECOWAS operates as a regional intergovernmental organization working toward political and economic integration across West Africa since its founding by 15 leaders through the Treaty of Lagos on May 28, 1975 (source). Its headquarters are located in Abuja (source), where it seeks to advance cooperation among member states through harmonized policies covering trade, transport, agriculture and social development (source). The Commission is led by a president who is supported by commissioners such as Dr Bappah (source).