The Economic Community of West Africa State Parliamentarian is set to hold a 5-day conference in Banjul, capital of The Gambia to discuss issues of good governance, peace, and security in the region.
A statement signed by the head of the Communications Division to the Parliament, Uchenna Duru-Nwaotule today Monday 15 August 2022 in Abuja.
Said the delocalized meeting slated to hold from 16 to 20 August 2022 had the theme: Community texts relating to peace, security, democracy, and good governance: challenges in their implementation and the oversight role of ECOWAS Parliament,
will be featuring various committees to find a lasting solution to peace and security in the region.
Thus acquainting Members of the Joint Committee in taking ownership of the ECOWAS texts on peace and security, democracy, and good governance for its effective implementation.
“Three of the fourteen Standing Committees of the Parliament, comprising the following: Committees on
Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) / Legal affairs and human rights / Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment,
Since its creation on 28 May 1975, ECOWAS has adopted a significant number of Texts aimed at preventing, managing, and/or settling conflicts within the Community, as well as maintaining and promoting peace and
regional security.
However, attempts to effectively implement these Community Texts have thrown up, several apparent challenges.
Consequently, the impact of these texts on improving the security and good governance climate and environment
within the ECOWAS region remains insufficiently evident.
It is therefore within this context that the Joint Committee will meet to reflect on the role of
parliamentary oversight in the effective implementation of the ECOWAS texts on Peace, Security, Democracy and Good Governance.”
The ECOWAS Parliament is composed of 115 seats. Each Member State is allotted a guaranteed minimum of five seats. The remaining forty seats are distributed in proportion to the population of each country.
Consequently, in total, Nigeria has 35 seats, followed by Ghana, with eight seats, and Côte d’Ivoire, with seven seats. Others are Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal which are allotted six seats each, meanwhile, Benin, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo have five seats respectively.
