By Temitope Ponle
Abuja – Some experts in international relations have called on the ECOWAS member states to create an instrument for effective implementation of the decisions of ECOWAS Parliament.
They said that such instrument was necessary in view of the recent enhancement of the functions of the Parliament.
The Parliament, in February, made it known that the adoption of the Supplementary Act on the enhancement of its legislative powers gave it more functions.
The Supplementary Act was adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in December, 2016.
The Speaker of the Parliament, Mr Moustapha Cissé Lô, said the adoption of the Act made the views of the parliament “binding, compulsory and taken into consideration by the sub-region”.
The experts, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, said that the development could lead to conflict with the sub-regional and national laws if not followed effectively.
Mr Obono Obla, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution said that it was pertinent to have an institution responsible for the enforcement of the decisions of the parliament.
Obla said: “I think, we are going to see a lot of conflicts between the ECOWAS system and the nations within the community; that is a challenge we will see and it is not peculiar to ECOWAS.
“Most importantly, is there going to be a coercive instrument? There ought to be a body entrusted with the responsibility of enforcement.
“If there is no body like that, there will be the problem of countries disobeying and sometimes they get out of it (the organisation).
“It is happening in regional blocs globally, so I do not see a different scenario in the ECOWAS system.”
Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bulus Lolo, said the strengthening of the legislative functions of the Parliament was ‘’a work in progress”.
Lolo, however, urged member states to draw from the experiences of regional blocs like the European Union.
The Nigerian Senate, on Wednesday, commended ECOWAS for strengthening the powers of community parliament in line with international best practices.
This followed a motion by Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, on “Enhancement of the Powers of the Parliament of the Economic Community for West African States” on the floor of the Senate .
Ekweremadu said that the enhancement of the powers of the parliament was a major achievement toward democratisation of governance of the sub-regional body.
He also said the development would promote the fine principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.
The parliament was established under the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993, while the protocol relating to the parliament was signed in 1994 but came into force in 2002.
The Parliament acted as an advisory body but efforts to enhance its legislative functions failed, leading to the development of a Draft Supplementary Act on the Enhancement of the Powers of the Community Parliament by the third legislature, led by Ekweremadu.
The Act, however, failed to come into force before the expiration of the third legislature.