DSP Barau, Natasha, Others Inaugurated As ECOWAS Parliamentarians

The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, and the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, were among other lawmakers inaugurated as members of the sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS parliament.

The inauguration, which took place on Thursday at the International Conference Centre (ICC) Abuja, was graced by President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, representatives of parliamentarians of other ECOWAS countries, diplomats and top government officials.

The lawmakers were inaugurated into the sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS parliament by President Tinubu, who doubles as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

Senators Barau, Natasha and other newly elected representatives for the sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament took their oath during the opening session.

The ECOWAS Parliament is one of the institutions of ECOWAS established by the ECOWAS Treaty of May 28, 1975, signed in Lagos, Nigeria.

The treaty was revised in July 1993 and signed in Abidjan and it is what is currently in use.

ECOWAS Parliament comprises 115 members drawn from the 15-member States of which Nigeria is one.

Nigeria has been allotted 35 slots out of this total number (i.e. 17 Senators and 18 Members of House of Representatives), followed by Ghana, which has eight seats. Côte d’Ivoire is allotted seven seats, while Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal have six seats each, respectively.

The President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, is the one who transmitted the list of the Nigerian Delegation to the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

Furthermore, the leader of the Nigerian Delegation to the 6th ECOWAS Parliament is the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau.

The tenure of office for members of the Parliament is four years beginning from the date of inauguration.