Junta led Burkina Faso, Niger Republic, Mali absent as ECOWAS holds sixth legislature in Kano

Twelve out of 15 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) converged in Kano for the sixth legislature.

The twelve available states came together to discuss member states’ socio-economic, political, security, and other challenges confronting the regional organization.

The three West African Countries that were physically absent were representatives of Junta led government of  Burkina Faso,  Niger Republic and Mali.

The second extraordinary session of ECOWAS started on Monday, today with the registration and accreditation of participants at Bristol Palace, Kano,

In an interview with journalists at the venue of the meeting on Monday, the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Barau I. Jubrin, said Monday’s engagement was like bureau meetings between the leadership of the Parliament and the committee chairmen, including other principal officers of the Parliament.

According to him, “Tomorrow (Tuesday) is going to be the session that will involve all the parliamentarians and of course, the invited guests that will be here with us.

“Tuesday will be a session for all the parliamentarians; and VIPs are going to be invited to witness the session. It is going to be a general meeting.”

Jubrin, who is also Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, hinted that representatives from Togo, who did not participate in the previous meeting, are expected to attend the Kano meeting.

“Representatives from Togo were not there in the previous meeting because there were no elections in that country then; but now elections have taken place, and we are expecting them to be around during the period we are going to have this event; and they will hopefully be sworn in on Thursday,” he added.

Senator Jubrin said the agenda for the meeting is all-encompassing, including the economy, security, and other challenges facing member states.

According to him, “It is the entire Assembly that has been brought here; and in the Assembly, we do not have any kind of restrictions. When we have a Parliament, everything concerning the entire ECOWAS Community will be discussed.

“When you have a parliament, even if you have an agenda, you still have room for everybody to bring forward whatever he feels should be discussed.

“So, it is an open session for Parliament; and we do not have restrictions. Everything about the society, about the economy, about ECOWAS, about the West African sub-region can be discussed. So, it is an open-ended kind of scope in respect of what is going to be discussed.”

The ECOWAS Parliament First Deputy Speaker justified holding the meeting in Kano, instead of Abuja, saying it was designed to bring the meeting closer to the people.

“We are holding the meeting here in Kano to bring the Parliament closer to the people. That is why we are here in Kano. This is the first time that you have this kind of meetings and sessions of ECOWAS Parliaments taking place here.

“It is in line with what we have said. We are here so that Kano will know ECOWAS Parliament, and ECOWAS Parliament will know Kano.

“Kano is the Centre of Commerce of the entire northern Nigeria. It is the political capital, if you like, call Kano the political nerve centre of the entire northern Nigeria.

“So, that is why we brought this session to hold here so that we bring ECOWAS closer to the people; so that people will know ECOWAS parliament and ECOWAS parliament will go deeper into our various societies,” he explained.

The Second Extraordinary Session of ECOWAS Parliament will hold between the May 20 and 25, 2024.

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, attended the inaugural session of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament held on April 4, this year.

The Kano event will attract parliamentarians from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Cape Verde, Cote D’ Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Republic Togo.

The ECOWAS Parliament, also known as the Community Parliament, is one of the institutions of ECOWAS.