A total of 92 parliamentarians took the oath of office for a four-year term under the 6th Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament.
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have not yet sent any Parliamentarians to represent them in this sixth Legislature.
The ECOWAS Parliament is an institution born of the determination of all ECOWAS Member States to work together to achieve regional integration.
The President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, performed the swearing -in ceremony of all 92 new members on Thursday, April 4, 2024, at the Abuja International Conference Center in Nigeria.
President Tinubu stated his readiness to support a proposal for the direct election of members of the ECOWAS Parliament.
“This principle is also in line with the spirit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and we believe this would ensure that citizens have a direct say in their representation and the legitimacy and credibility such a process will confer,” the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government stated.
Addressing the opening ceremony, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, noted that the inauguration of the 6th Legislature attests to the entrenchment of democracy in West Africa.
“Despite recent challenges, our Community remained determined to pursue democracy and good governance. It is for this reason that the ECOWAS Heads of State instructed at their last session that the people’s representatives should continue to play their role in the ECOWAS Parliament, even when unconstitutional changes of government occur in their home countries.” he said.
“Over the years, the ECOWAS Parliament has intensified its efforts to ensure that the aspirations of ECOWAS citizens are taken into account in the integration process. At this stage in the history of our Community, we are faced with the challenges of unity, security, good governance, and development. The task before us, and the 6th Legislature, is to work towards restoring unity in our Community, promoting security cooperation, and advancing good governance and development. The citizens of the Community aspire to improved security and living conditions,” Dr Touray added.
