Tinubu Inaugurates 6th ECOWAS Parliament in  Abuja

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, inaugurated the 6th Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Nigeria.

Also known as the Community Parliament, the ECOWAS Parliament was established under Articles 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993. It is the representative assembly of peoples of the 15-member community with 115 seats.

Each member state is guaranteed a minimum of five seats. The remaining forty seats are distributed in proportion to the population of each country.

Nigeria has a total of 35 seats, followed by Ghana with eight seats. Côte d’Ivoire is allotted seven seats, whereas Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal have six seats respectively. The remaining ECOWAS member states, namely Benin, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo, have allotted to each of them, five seats.

Speaking on Thursday when he swore in 97 members into the 6th ECOWAS parliament at the Abuja International Conference Centre, President Tinubu, who doubled as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said he would support a proposal for the direct election of members into the parliament; adding that the move would give citizens of member states a say in who represents them.

“As a one-time legislator myself, I look forward to reviewing the proposal regarding this matter. We stand to support the direct elections into ECOWAS parliament,” said Tinubu when he swore in 97 members into the 6th ECOWAS parliament at the Abuja International Conference Centre.

“The practice of directly electing public officers aligns with democratic principles, principles that Nigeria upholds. This principle is also in line with the spirit of the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance.

“We believe this will ensure that citizens will have a direct say in their representation and the legitimacy and credibility it will provide.”

He assured members of the sixth ECOWAS Parliament that Nigeria, as host of the community, “will continue to support you to achieve your objectives.”