Nigerian member of the ECOWAS Parliament, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo, has called on the regional legislature to implement the mandatory 30 per cent female representation as enacted in the Supplementary Act on Enhancement of the Powers.

Banigo, on the sidelines of the ongoing Third Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament (Sixth Legislature) in Lome, Togo, said it had become incumbent on the Parliament to pressure or sanction member states that failed to comply with the Act, which requires each member state to ensure that at least 30 per cent of its parliamentary delegation is composed of women. She lamented the dwindling number of female representation in most countries of the region and called for more advocacy and awareness.

“Each of the countries sends a list of representatives from their various parliaments to the ECOWAS Parliament and it is mandatory that 30 per cent of the nominations from the national parliaments must be women,” she said. She added that the list from member states must include the youth and people with disabilities.

“We have gone further to say that if there is any national parliament that violates this requirement, there should be sanctions. Any country that sends a list that does not comply with the provisions will be sent back.” “But the issue is that most of these national parliaments don’t even have that number of women and that is going to be an issue.

“We are advocating for more women to join parliaments in their various countries because they have a lot to bring to the table and we believe that with greater advocacy, awareness and with the cooperation of various stakeholders, there will be more women into parliamentary positions in the ECOWAS Parliament.”