ECOWAS PARLIAMENTARIANS SHOULD BE DIRECTLY ELECTED, SAYS NIGERIAN PRESIDENT

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The current chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State of Ecowas, President Bola Tinubu has called for evolution of the Ecowas Parliament to the status of a real parliament constituted through direct elections of its members.

It is inconceivable for Ecowas to become a community of the people of West Africa unless it has an executive, a parliament and a judiciary that will be committed to the goals of the community as entrenched in its revised treaty of 1993. This should also apply to the Pan African Parliament if they are to be in tune with the European parliament and others.

It is important for the people in the sub region to know the significance of Ecowas. This could only be if they are involved in the elections of representatives in parliament. If they participate in elections of representatives all over Africa in general, such elected representatives would put their nationalist tag behind and put their regional and continental tag uppermost in their minds. This is the only way to promote community and continental unity through the harmonisation of instruments, institutions and policies.