President Bola Tinubu has expressed support for a proposal to directly elect members into the parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He stated that this move would allow citizens of member states to have a say in who represents them.
During the swearing-in ceremony of 97 members into the 6th ECOWAS parliament at the Abuja International Conference Centre, President Tinubu emphasized the importance of directly electing public officers, aligning with democratic principles and the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance.
President Tinubu, a former legislator himself, stated, “As a one-time legislator myself, I look forward to reviewing the proposal regarding this matter. We stand to support the direct elections into ECOWAS parliament.”
The ECOWAS parliament is currently populated by existing lawmakers from the 15 member states, but President Tinubu’s statement indicates a potential shift towards direct representation by citizens.
President Tinubu assured members of the sixth ECOWAS Parliament that Nigeria, as the host country, would continue to support the parliament.
The ECOWAS parliament, also known as the Community parliament, was established under Articles 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993.
The parliament is composed of 115 seats, with each member state guaranteed a minimum of five seats, while the remaining 40 seats are shared based on population.
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