IS THE SEPARATION OF POWERS AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL OF ECOWAS WORKING?

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The Ecowas Community has an executive in the Authority of Heads of State and Government of Ecowas, an advisory and consultative body in the form of the Ecowas parliament and a judiciary in the form of the Ecowas court of Justice.

If one is dissatisfied with the decision of the Ecowas executive that entity can resort to the Ecowas Court for redress. This confirms that Niger which had a coup d’état and now a transitional administration is willing to be guided by the authority of the community.

The community of heads of state and government therefore has an obligation to look into their concerns before the judgment of the court to see whether they can agree on concrete terms of restoring Niger to a democratic dispensation on terms and conditions that may shape the post coup response of the community in ensuring peaceful restoration of legitimacy and constitutionality in governance.

The Ecowas Court hopefully may also advise the parties to negotiate outside of court before making a final decision. This will facilitate dialogue for peaceful restoration of Niger to constitutional legitimacy.