ECOWAS: Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President Elected First Deputy Speaker
By Adoba Echono
The Deputy President Of the Nigerian Senate, Jibrin Barau has been elected the 1st Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) during the inauguration of the 6th Legislature of the regional bloc in Abuja Nigeria.
The 6th Legislature was inaugurated by the President of Nigeria Bola Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in accordance with the Supplementary Act on the Enhancement of Powers of the Community Parliament.
Barau was nominated by Nigerian member of Parliament, Awaji- Inombek Dagomie Abiante, in a session presided by Liberia’s Edwin Snowe as interim Speaker.
His nomination was seconded by another Nigerian member of Parliament, Senator Ireti Kingibe and he was voted unopposed.
The office of the Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament is usually reserved for Nigeria anytime the country is not presiding as Speaker of the Parliament.
Also elected as Second Deputy Speaker was Adjaratou Traore Coulibally from Ivory Coast, who polled 54 votes to beat Cecile Ahoumnon from Benin, who got zero vote.
The position of the Third Deputy Speaker was won by Alexander Kwamena Afenyo- Markin from Ghana in a unanimous vote.
The Fourth Deputy Speaker position was won by Billay Tunkara from The Gambia with 47 votes beating Orlando Pereira Dias from Cabo Verde who got 7 votes.
However, the regional legislature was unable to elect a substantive Speaker to lead the Parliament following the inability of Togo to which the position was zoned, to produce the Speaker due the political situation in the country.
Outgoing Speaker of the Parliament, Sidie Mohammed Tunis, thanked the regional body for the opportunity given him to serve for four years even as he reaffirmed his commitment to the regional body.
The President of the Nigerian Godswill Akpabio, in his address, called for unity among ECOWAS member states, urging the lawmakers to use the parliament to build the bridges of unity and progress.
” We have worked tirelessly to address the challenges facing our region.
However let us not rest on our oars,” he said.
He tasked the bloc to consolidate on the successes of their predecessors to forge a path towards a more inclusive, equitable and prosperous future for all.
Senator Akpabio stressed the need for the deepening of regional integration enhancement of trade and investment as well as promotion of the free movement of goods, services and people within the region.
