The ECOWAS Court has dismissed a suit filed by its Ivorian employee, Ms. Mariame Kone-Toure, seeking to terminate the appointment of her Gambian colleague, Ama Savage.

Kone-Toure had served in an acting capacity from Feb. 2023, as of Head of Administration and Human Resources Division, ECOWAS Court of Justice.

She later applied for the substantive position when it was advertised in May 2023.

However, following the recruitment interview conducted in January 2024, Savage was appointed in October 2024 instead.

In her submission before the court, Kone-Toure had claimed that the selection process violated the principles of fairness and non-discrimination as enshrined in the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.

The applicant had argued that, although she was one of the top candidates, the Management Succession Committee only recommended Savage as the sole candidate for the substantive position.

According to her claims in the suit marked: No. ECW/CCJ/APP/32/24, the process is in contrast to similar recruitments in other ECOWAS institutions, where multiple top candidates are usually recommended.

However, ECOWAS had in its submission before the court through its counsel, argued that Savage was the most qualified candidate for the position.

Delivering judgment, Justice Dupe Atoki, on behalf of a three-member panel of the court presided over by Justice Sengu Koroma, the President of the Court, dismissed all the Ivorian’s claims.

The panel, which also had Justice Gberi-Bè Ouattara as a member, upheld ECOWAS’ submission that Savage was the most qualified candidate for the position.

It declared that Kone-Toure’s claims were unsubstantiated, adding that her non-selection was not in any way a violation of her rights.

The court further held that Savage’s appointment complied with ECOWAS Staff Regulations, and the applicant did not provide evidence of discrimination or procedural irregularity against her colleague’s appointment.

“On the merits, the Court examined allegations of discrimination under Article 4(1) and the principle of equitable geographical distribution under Article 9(2)(f) of the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.

“It found that the applicant failed to provide sufficient, verifiable evidence of differential treatment in similar circumstances.

“The court notes that, while she referenced practices in other institutions, she did not present the names or scores of the candidates allegedly favoured, preventing a meaningful comparative analysis.

“On the claim regarding geographical distribution, the court rules that the principle applies only among equally qualified candidates and does not override the requirement of merit-based selection,” the judgment reads in part.

Earlier, the court ruled on jurisdiction, by affirming its competence to hear the matter under Article 9(1)(f) of the 2005 Amended Protocol.

It also held that the suit was admissible as the applicant had exhausted all available internal remedies by initially appealing in futility to the president of the ECOWAS Commission before approaching the court.(NAN)

 At least four individuals lost their lives, and two others sustained life-threatening injuries in a fatal road accident that occurred along G.U Ake Road in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

The spokesperson for the Police Command in Rivers, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, revealed this development in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Iringe-Koko attributed the collision, which occurred at about 11:42 p.

m. on the day, to excessive speeding, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

“The driver of a Toyota Camry, with registration number ABJ 10 EM, lost control and struck six pedestrians.

“Tragically, four of the pedestrians died at the scene, while two others sustained injuries and were immediately taken to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) for medical attention,” she explained.

She further stated that the vehicle had another occupant, identified as Benson Michael, aged 36.

According to the police spokesperson, the driver was promptly arrested and is currently undergoing interrogation.

“The accidented vehicle has been recovered and taken to the police station.

“The case will be transferred to the State Traffic Department for further investigation,” she noted.

She added that the bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) mortuary.

Iringe-Koko extended condolences to the families of the victims and assured them that justice would be served. (NAN)

From Ajiya Ayuba, Bauchi

The Bauchi State Government on Tuesday engaged stakeholders on proffering solutions to fire and other outbreak disasters in the State.The stakeholders were drawn from both the federal and state fire services, the state line ministries, department and agencies, security agencies, professional bodies, CSOs, Media, market and transport associations.

In an opening remarks at the maiden meeting of the stakeholders, Bauchi State Commissioner of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajara Yakubu Wanka said that the State Government is committed to mitigating recurring fire disasters and hence the need for identifying key stakeholders that could proffer solutions in that regard. Wanka said that the main objective of the meeting was to explore innovative approaches to awareness creation on fire disasters, mitigation and response.She stressed that, “though we cannot completely stop fire disasters from happening, we help in reducing occurrences to barest minimum through massive awareness campaigns. Such awareness campaigns will assist in reorienting members of the public on basic precautionary measures and how they can save their lives if such disasters occur”.Commissioner Wanka implored the stakeholders to open in their suggestions because according to her, “we are here to put heads together and come up with workable and realistic ways of managing fire disasters in Bauchi State”.She assured the stakeholders that Governor Bala Mohammed is keen on seeing what the Stakeholders will offer as solutions to fire disasters.The State Commissioner of Health, Sani Muhammad Dambam said that fire disasters most times come with health concerns because of what victims go through during such disasters.Dambam gave an insight into how the smoke in such disasters sometimes leads to loss of lives and advised victims to always lay low and crawl out to safety as according to him, “smoke tends to bellow up and so, when victims walk straight, there is the tendency of massive healing of smoke”.He pledged the commitment of his ministry in supporting the initiative by the Humanitarian Ministry aimed at reducing fire disasters in the State.There was advice from the stakeholders that mostly focused on weak awareness for the public, inadequate firefighting trucks, accessibility of disaster areas, use of substandard electrical wirings, absence of simple emergency numbers and some other challenges.