The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, has emerged as the acting Speaker of the Sixth Legislature of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States.
Barau, who is the leader of the Nigerian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, emerged as the acting Speaker during the inaugural session of the assembly held in Abuja on Thursday.
Barau was nominated by the first Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Awaji-Inombek Abiante and seconded by Senator Ireti Kingibe.
In accordance with the rotational system established by Decision A/DEC. 6/06/06 of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Speakership of the Sixth Legislature of the sub-regional body was zoned to the Republic of Togo.
However, during the inauguration of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS, the delegation of the Republic of Togo was not present; hence, a Speaker Pro-tempore, Edwin Snowe, a Liberian, was elected.
Snowe presided over the inaugural session of the Parliament, including the election of the four deputy speakers.
He said in order not to create a vacuum, Barau, as the first Deputy Speaker, will act as the Speaker of the Parliament pending when the Togolese delegation is inaugurated.
Adjaratou Traore Coulibaly (Cote D’ Ivoire) emerged as second Deputy Speaker; Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin (Ghana) was elected third Deputy Speaker and Billay G Tunkara (Gambia) emerged as the Fourth Deputy Speaker.
The opening was attended by President Bola Tinubu who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
In his speech, Tinubu called on ECOWAS member states to come together, strengthen ties, and reject forces bent on causing division within the community.
He said regional solidarity was imperative to strengthen the bloc’s resilience and effectiveness at this critical juncture.
Lawmakers from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote D’ Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone were inaugurated as members of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS.
The ECOWAS Parliament, also known as the Community Parliament, is one of the institutions of the ECOWAS.
It is the Assembly of Peoples of the Community, serving as a forum of dialogue, consultation and consensus for representatives of the people of West Africa to promote integration.
The ECOWAS Parliament, which was established under Articles 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS revised treaty of 1993, is composed of 115 seats.