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ECOWAS Parliament: Speaker Ibrahima Call On Member States to Increase Funding

Published

1 month ago

August 13, 2024

By Gloria Ikibah

The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament, Rt. Honourable Memounatou Ibrahima, has charged member states to scale up funding to meet the multifaceted challenges for the institution.

Speaker Ibrahima stated this at the delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee on Administration, Budget, Finance, Public Account, Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research ongoing in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Monday, with the theme: ‘‘The Role of the ECOWAS Parliament in Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring’’.

She acknowledged that the subregion was currently experiencing financial difficulties and dangers, which has threatened the execution and realisation of community projects and programmess that necessitated increased funding by member states.

She stated: “I want to seize the opportunity of our meeting to call on the member states to scale up their efforts to finance the community.

“The current context is marked by the global repercussions of recession and inflation, provoked by international tensions, and the security threats within the region.

“These limited financial resources are under the important financing needs of the community.

“As you know, the community budget is supplied at 85 per cent by the community levy, which is a 0.5 per cent tax imposed on goods from countries that are not members. of the CDAO.

“Unfortunately, the last report on the state of the community presented by the President of the Commission revealed a weak mobilisation of its resources during these last years”.

According to Hon. Ibrahima, community raising is perfectly reflected in the solidarity and responsibility of its respective governments, which was aimed to build a prosperous and peaceful community environment.

The Speaker reiterated that the meeting represented not only an opportunity for collaboration but also a moment of reflection on the strategies that member states must adopt to respond to challenges in the subregion.

She further stated that the meeting is expected to address the role of the ECOWAS Parliament in the community’s budgetary process, especially against the backdrop of current challenges and realities.

“The goal is to allow the lawmakers to better understand the challenges related to the budget examination of the community in order to strengthen and consolidate the collaboration between the ECOWAS Parliament and other community institutions.

“I am convinced that our discussions on the role of ECOWAS in the elaboration and follow-up of the budget of the community will generate relevant analyses and solid recommendations to accelerate our resolution towards a community of fully integrated peoples.

“This will culminate in a peaceful and prosperous region with strong and respectful institutions of fundamental freedom working for a sustainable inclusive development.

“The index of regional integration in Africa measures to what extent the African countries in the north, the commitments they have taken in the context of various initiatives of pan-African integration, such as the African Union’s 2063 Agenda or the Abuja Treaty, relating to ECOWAS”, Ibrahima added.

The Speaker highlighted that Ivory Coast was the first high-performance ECOWAS member country based on certain dimensions of regional integration, namely: commercial integration, productive integration, and macroeconomic integration.

Speaking earlier, the Vice President of the Ivorian National Assembly, Diawara Mamadou, stated that the parliament plays an important role in the preparation of budgets both nationally and internationally.

He explained that for ECOWAS, where the Parliament plays a fundamental role in monitoring through budget preparation and oversight, it was pertinent for constituents to be informed on various actions regarding budgetary matters.

According to Mamadou, parliament is responsible for preparing and overseeing the execution of individual national budgets, so it is fundamental to understand how the community parliament examines and controls its budget.

“The general debate provides a platform for sharing experiences and developing proposals, enabling participants to enhance their capabilities and propose improvements to the existing mechanisms.

“I am therefore pleased that this relocated meeting in Abidjan addresses such an important subject as the budget,” he said.

Also speaking, Mrs Niali Kaba, Ivorian Minister of Economic Planning and Development, representing the Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration, Wautabouna Ouatarra, said the adoption of the ECOWAS budget marked a decisive turning point in the community’s annual life.

“While this budget outlines all the resources and expenditures planned for ECOWAS institutions for the year in a single document, it is primarily the financial translation of our region’s integration and development policy,” she said.

Chairman of the Joint Committee on Administration, Finance, Budget, Public Accounts, Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, in his remarks assured that parliament would ensure the judicious and transparently use of all funds.

Kalu who is also the Deputy Speaker of Nigerian House of Representatives, said this was only achievable through meaningful engagements with critical stakeholders like the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee.

“The Parliament has a critical duty to ensure that public resources are utilised responsibly and for intended purposes by the Executives.

“As Representatives of the people of the region, we must champion the promotion and practice of transparency and accountability.

“In other words, ‘oversight’ is an indispensable parliamentary tool that should be effectively deployed to secure the accountability of the Executive to the Parliament and the citizens in general,” he said.

News

Ecoparl: Speaker Ibrahima Reaffirms Parliament’s Dedication to Regional Unity

Published

4 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Honourable Memounatou Ibrahima, restated that the parliament remains committed to ensuring the unity and integration of the people within the subregion.

According to Speaker Ibrahima, the Parliament will continue to use parliamentary diplomacy to engage countries that are considering leaving the bloc due to political challenges, such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, as a result of military coups they experienced.

The Speaker stated this when she led a delegation of the ECOWAS Parliament on a working visit to the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday in Abuja.

She highlighted that while countries may break formal cooperation, the people of the region remain interconnected, adding that the Parliament, as representatives of these people, will work to maintain the unity.

Ibrahima expressed gratitude to the Nigerian Senate for supporting ECOWAS by providing necessary facilities for their plenary sessions, even as she discussed the socio-political challenges facing the region, as well as how parliamentarians can contribute more to address these issues.

She said: “We strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, because we know that the countries might break cooperation but we cannot separate the population. The population always live together and we as representatives of the people, we are doing our best so that this living together will continue to be reality and even made better.

“We came to thank him for all the facilities that the senate has been providing to the ECOWAS Parliament to facilitate the holding of our sessions here in Abuja. We also discussed on the socio-political situation in the community. We also discussed on the ways parliamentarians can make more contributions on the various issues and the challenges that we are experiencing in ECOWAS”.

The President of the Senate,

Senator Akpabio, who was represented by his Deputy, Senator Barau Jubril, commended Ibrahima’s leadership and her efforts in using parliamentary diplomacy to foster cooperation within ECOWAS, especially in light of the challenges posed by countries considering an exit from the bloc.

He noted that since Speaker Meimounatou assumed office, she has deployed enormous parliamentary diplomacy to bear not only on the level of cooperation with institutions in the region but also on those that have expressed the wish to quit the regional block.

Naijablitznews.com reports that Senator Jubril is the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

He said: “Since she was elected the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, she has been up and doing in terms of giving leadership to the parliament. It is in that regard that she is here trying to chart a better course for the parliament to make sure that she brings parliamentary diplomacy to bear in terms of our cooperation not only with those who are within the community as we speak but also even those who are attempting to leave the community.

“It is in that respect that she is here, and what she is doing is commendable. She has come to strengthen her idea and initiative of making the parliament stronger and more effective”.

News

Air Force Begins Moving Electoral Materials For Edo Guber Election

Published

6 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has began airlifting the sensitive election materials for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Benin, Edo State, ahead of the upcoming governorship election scheduled for September 21, 2024.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Deputy Director, Public Relations and Information, Group Captain Kabiru Ali.

The operation is part of the NAF’s efforts to ensure the timely and secure delivery of materials necessary for a smooth electoral process.

This development reinforces the collaboration between NAF and INEC to facilitate logistics and ensure a peaceful election in Edo State.

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, had previously reiterated NAF’s commitment to providing airlift support for the swift movement of electoral materials during a meeting with INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

This airlift operation is a crucial aspect of NAF’s constitutional responsibility to provide Military Aid to Civil Authority, underscoring the force’s dedication to supporting democratic processes in Nigeria. With the election just days away, the NAF’s timely intervention will help ensure the successful conduct of the governorship elections in Edo State.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State had earlier accused the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, of working with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hunt the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and supporters in the state and force them into hiding ahead of September 21 governorship election.

Obaseki, who made the allegation when a delegation led by the former Head of State, Abdusalam Abubakar, met with him to get the governor and his party to sign peace accord, said that the IGP had made nonsense of his (Obaseki’s) role as the chief security officer of the state.

The governor had said that the police chief obtained a warrant to arrest 60 members and supporters of PDP in Edo and that the IGP sent an armed “gang” of policemen who invaded the state, attacked PDP members, shot at a local government chairman and arrested 10 persons who are currently being detained in Abuja without charges.

Asked by the former head of state if his party would sign the peace accord, Obaseki said, “The person who is supposed to enforce the peace accord is now an active participant in creating a destructive environment.

“We are now in a situation where from the Inspector General’s office, there are armed gang policemen who came into Edo State, invaded, arrested and took away PDP members.

News

“Dancing gives me abundant joy and peace of mind”-Gov Adeleke

Published

6 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has given reasons why he loves dancing.

The ‘Dancing Governor’, as he is fondly called, revealed this on Wednesday while responding to a tweet on X.

An X user, @Iwogoke, while praising the governor, stated that Adeleke has been busy fulfilling his electoral promises to the people of Osun State, while his political opponents believe he is only good at dancing.

Iwogoke tweeted, “I’m not flattering you, Your Excellency, your opponents think you can only dance but while they are busy shouting and calling you ‘Dancing Governor’, you are busy fulfilling your electoral promises to the people.”

Responding to the tweet via his verified X account, Adeleke explained that he loves dancing because it brings him joy.

Speaking further on his love for dancing, Adeleke highlighted that while dancing brings him immense happiness, his greater fulfilment comes from delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Osun.

Outlining his administration’s efforts to enhance the state’s infrastructure, he noted that primary health centre rehabilitation is underway in at least 200 out of the 332 wards across Osun State, adding that road construction projects are also progressing in every local government area.

He wrote, “Dancing gives me joy, but delivering on my electoral promises and providing the dividends of democracy to the good people of Osun gives me even greater joy. Rehabilitation of primary health centers is ongoing in at least 200 out of 332 wards, and road construction is progressing in every Local Government!”