Nigeria, Feb. 16 -- The governments of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have made public their plans to form a confederation following their 'exit' from ECOWAS.

"Our excellent diplomats then recommended to the Heads of State the creation of a Confederation bringing together Burkina, Mali and Niger, awaiting the creation of a Federation of the three countries," said the Malian government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, on Thursday in a Facebook post.

It was part of a speech the army colonel delivered at a meeting that ministers of the three states held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Mr Maiga, who is also Mali's minister of Territorial Organisation and Decentralisation, said the recommendation to create a confederation was made in a November 2...