By Abbanobi – Eku Onyekachi
Abuja
The Deputy Senate President (DSP) Barau Jibrin alongside Senator Natasha Akpoti – Uduaghan, amongst others have been inaugurated as members of the sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament.
The inauguration which took place on Thursday at the International Conferences Centre, Abuja, was graced by President Bola Tinubu, Senate President (SP) Godswill Akpabio, DSP Barau Jibril, 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 Bola Ahmed Tinubu who doubles as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. Senator 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 State of which Nigeria is one. Nigeria has been allotted out of this number, 35 slots (That is 17 Senators and 18 Honourable members), 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, respectively.
The SP Godswill Akpabio, is the one who transmits 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.
The tenure of office for members is four years beginning from the date of inauguration.
