President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reiterated the commitment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to sustain the push for the restoration of constitutional government in Mali, Niger and Burkina-Faso.
Tinubu, who doubles as Chairman of ECOWAS, committed, yesterday, at the opening of the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session of the Community’s parliament in Kano.
He underscored the essence of political and constitutional stability as a panacea to prosperous regional growth and integration and declared Nigeria’s willingness to work with the regional legislators to entrench strong democratic ties among states.
Represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, the ECOWAS Chairman charged the parliamentarians not to hesitate to navigate beyond the rules of procedures and provide solutions to prevailing regional differences.
President Tinubu urged the legislators to map out a strategy for strengthening democratic institutions and values, geared towards regional security and economic integration.
Presiding over the session, the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Barau Jibrin, disclosed the strong alignment of regional legislators to build progressive collaboration and synergy among member states.
The ECOWAS Speaker, who doubles as Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, called for urgent collaboration with institutional blocks to address military rule in Mali, Niger and Burkina-Faso.
Jibrin echoed the parliament’s dissatisfaction with non-state actors in some member states who were threatening civil rule, provoking insecurity, and thereby inflicting hardship on citizens.
He added that the parliament had set up an ad hoc committee to mediate with the leadership of military juntas in Niger, Mali and Burkina-Faso for peaceful resolution and return to democracy.
In his welcome address, Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, said with a projected $633 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and estimated population of 765 million by 2043, member states have the potential of making huge contributions to the global economy.
Yusuf, however, noted that attaining the feat might be elusive amid failure to build a strong regional block for economic development, insecurity, and proliferation of illicit substances.
About 50 ECOWAS parliamentarians from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Togo, and Sierra Leone are attending the week-long session.
