Sixth ECOWAS Parliament and Calls for Regional Body’s Unity
Michael Olugbode reports that the Sixth Economic Community of West African States Parliament was inaugurated last week in Abuja with stakeholders calling for the unity of the sub regional body.
Though there is still a strong call for direct election into the Parliament to reinforce the fact that it is representative of the people, the Parliament has contributed greatly to the West African brotherhood. The call for direct election resonated with Nigeria’s President and Chairman of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, Bola Tinubu while inaugurating the sixth legislature last week saying: to realize the ECOWAS ‘Vision 2050’, we require greater involvement of the people in the decision-making processes of the community. That can only be achieved through their duly-elected representatives who, being members of their national parliaments, are seconded to the community parliament. We are here, collectively, to serve all the good and great people of West Africa.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional political and economic union of 15 countries located in West Africa, comprising an area of 5,114,162 km2 (1,974,589 sq mi) and have an estimated population of over 424.34 million. The stated goal of ECOWAS is to achieve “collective selfsufficiency” for its member- states by creating a single large trade bloc by building a full economic and trading union. Top on its aim is to raise living standards and promote economic development. It was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, with a clearly stated mission of promoting economic integration across the region. A revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993 in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
Its fundamental principles rely on equity, inter-dependence, solidarity, co-operation, nonaggression, regional peace, promotion of human rights, and economic and social justice.
And notable among its protocols and plans are the ECOWAS Free Movement of Persons, Residences and Establishment Protocol and the Ecotour Action Plan 2019–2029.
The Free Movement of Persons Protocol permits citizens the right to enter and reside in any member-state’s territory, and the Ecotour Action Plan aims to develop and integrate the tourist industry of each member- state.
ECOWAS also serves as a peacekeeping force in the region, with member-states occasionally sending joint military forces to intervene in the bloc’s member-countries at times of political instability and unrest.
This last role at present is at the centre of the greatest threat to the body as early this year, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali announced their withdrawal from the bloc, in reaction to their suspension due to military takeovers in their respective governments.
Before announcing their exit from ECOWAS, they had earlier formed the Alliance of Sahel States, which is a mutual Defence pact created between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso on 16 September 2023. The pact was created during the 2023 Nigerien crisis in which ECOWAS threatened to intervene militarily to restore civilian rule after a coup in the country earlier that year.
The alliance’s stated goal, which look like an effrontery of ECOWAS, include to protect against possible threats of armed rebellion or external aggression by emphasizing that “any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracted parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties.”
It is in the thick of this crisis that ECOWAS Parliament, also known as the Community Parliament, one of the Institutions of ECOWAS, is inaugurating its sixth legislature. ECOWAS Parliament is the Assembly of Peoples of the Community serving as a forum for dialogue, consultation and consensus for representatives of the people of West Africa with the aim of promoting integration.
It was established under Articles 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993. The initial Protocol establishing the Parliament was signed in Abuja on August 6, 1994.
It provided for the structure, composition, competence and other matters relating to the Parliament. The Parliament is composed of 115 seats. Each member-state have a guaranteed minimum of five seats.
The remaining 40 seats is shared on the basis of population. And with the suspension and subsequent announced exit of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the membership became severely depleted.
Its objectives and vision include the need for a community mechanism to forge greater ties with the citizens of the region; to strengthen representative democracy in the Community ; to contribute to the promotion of peace, security, and stability on the West African Region; inform and sensitize the population on issues of integration; promote and defend principles of human rights, democracy, the rule of law, transparency, accountability and good governance; promote the practices of accountability; contribute to the efficient and effective implementation of objectives and policies of the Community, among other objectives.
The founding fathers believe this would sustain inspiration and legitimacy for actions the ECOWAS Community was taking on behalf of Community citizens.
It was believed this would be best achieved by allowing the Parliament to play the traditional role of a Parliament within the ECOWAS regional governance architecture. This sentiment is also in consonance with the ECOWAS Vision 2020 of transiting from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of People.
Though there is still a strong call for direct election into the Parliament to reinforce the fact that it is representative of the people, the Parliament has contributed greatly to the West African brotherhood. The call for direct election resonated with Nigeria’s President and Chairman of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, Bola Tinubu while inaugurating the sixth legislature last week saying: “to realize the ECOWAS ‘Vision 2050’, we require greater involvement of the people in the decision-making processes of the community. That can only be achieved through their duly-elected representatives who, being members of their national parliaments, are seconded to the community parliament. We are here, collectively, to serve all the good and great people of West Africa.
“I am aware that the ECOWAS Parliament is seeking enhanced powers, primarily through the election of its members by direct universal suffrage. This will increase the role parliamentarians must play and the responsibilities that they will assume in advancing our regional development objectives, particularly in harmonizing laws and regulations across the member-states.
“Indeed, the practice of directly electing public officials aligns with the democratic principles that Nigeria upholds, as it enhances the legitimacy of our democratic institutions. This principle is also in line with the spirit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. As a one-time legislator myself, I look forward to reviewing a proposal regarding this matter, and we stand ready to support direct elections into the ECOWAS Parliament. We believe this would ensure that citizens have a direct say in their representation – in addition to the legitimacy and credibility such a process will confer.”
Nigeria’s President also gave strong words on unity, stating that: “Honourable Members as we inaugurate the sixth legislature, it is evident that we are faced with profound challenges in our region that demand our unified efforts.
“Recent political development have consequential effect on each of our member- states.The wider international context in terms of security, access to markets, and climate change also presents profound challenges. Three member-states considering withdrawal from the community is a challenge to us. We must preserve the unity and integrity of our organisation. The ball is in your court as well as mine.
“At this critical junction, regional solidarity is imperative to strengthening our resilience and effectiveness as a bloc, particularly against forces that aim to divide us. We must not allow this. We cannot afford to remain persive and ordinary spectators, while our community faces the threat of disintegration. We stand united against such forces and are committed to ensuring that our unity remains unshaking. We must ensure that cooperation among us is strengthened with a view to building a sense of common destiny and purpose. No one can do this for us, we are the ones to do it, please take that seriously.
“In your legislative consideration and in your interaction, it is very imperative that you take seriously that we have to build the economic prosperity of our region by ourselves. Let us forget what has happened to us in the past, we have matured and of age to build our intellectual curiosity to develop our region.
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