The Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament Ike Ekweremadu, has described the adoption of the Supplementary Act on the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government as the greatest achievement of the Third Legislature of the community parliament, which he headed.
Mr Uche Anichukwu, Special Adviser (Media) to Ekweremadu, said in a statement on Thursday that the out-going ECOWAS Speaker appealed to The Authority to have the Act signed into Law in earnest in his Valedictory speech during the inauguration of the Fourth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja.
His successor, Speaker of the Fourth Legislature is Hon. Moustapha Cisse Lo of Senegal.
Ekweremadu said: “By far, the most important objective and success recorded by the Third Legislature of the community parliament remains the adoption of the Supplementary Act on the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament by the community’s decision making bodies.
“It is important to note that the Supplementary Act enjoyed the inputs of all necessary organs and institutions of the community. On its part, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government adopted the Act during its 46th Ordinary Session in Abuja on December 15, 2014”.
He was, however, quick to add that his only regret was that the Act was not signed into law during his tenure, adding that it was nevertheless “gratifying that we brought this age-long quest from nothing to a point where this institution is just signatures away from evolving into a true Parliament.”
He emphasised: “From the European Union Parliament to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), which is a year younger than the ECOWAS Parliament, it is normal for regional parliaments to exercise legislative powers and carry out other fundamental functions of a parliament such as oversight function.
“For emphasis, today, the ECOWAS Parliament regrettably remains the only regional parliament anywhere in the world without legislative powers. This should be a big embarrassment and reproach to us as a sub-region.”
Ekweremadu reiterated that the enhancement of the powers of the community parliament was in tandem with the fundamental principles of democracy, international best practices, the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, and the New Article 13 of the Supplementary Protocol.
He added: “It is common knowledge that true democratic governance rests on the tripod of the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary. The enhancement of powers is not for competition, but for the good governance of ECOWAS. It is to build strong institutions necessary for running a balanced and transparent ECOWAS. Importantly, it was the vision of our founding fathers to give expression to voices, challenges, and aspirations of the peoples of West Arica in a true and vibrant parliament.”
He named other major achievements of his leadership of parliament to include the bequeathing of a befitting parliamentary complex, while also handing over of a grant of about N1 billion for the construction of an office complex. He urged the new leadership to ensure that the grant was strictly used for the purpose for which it was received.
Other efforts at repositioning the parliament, Ekweremadu said, included ensuring that the 115 seats of the community parliament was fully occupied for the first time with the coming of Cote d’Ivoire and rejoining by Guinea; elaborate capacity building for parliament; creation of visibility and awareness for the parliament, and revival of the Conference of the Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments of West Africa.
He explained that the Third Legislature built elaborate and beneficial partnership with other regional and international legislative bodies, while also launching the ECOWAS Parliament into the realm of parliamentary diplomacy for the economic development, peace and security of the sub-region.
