The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, on Monday, assured ECOWAS Parliament of President Bola Tinubu’s resolve towards defending and promoting democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights across the sub-region.
Hon. Abbas gave the assurance in Abuja while delivering a goodwill message during the formal opening of the 2024 First Ordinary Session of ECOWAS.
In the bid to achieve the feat, he pledged the Nigerian Parliament’s commitment towards “supporting the President through legislative measures that will provide a robust framework for Nigeria’s foreign policy, strengthening of diplomatic relations, promoting economic interests, enhancing security cooperation, and promoting regional and global peace.”
While acknowledging that the sub-region has been confronted with a myriad of challenges, he applauded the resilience of the Parliament across the sub-region in tackling the menaces.
“I am delighted to state that despite the myriads of challenges confronting our sub-region, the ECOWAS Parliament has remained strong, resolute and committed to promoting the ideals of democratic governance, economic integration, peace and security.
“Since its establishment by the ECOWAS Treaty in 1975, the ECOWAS Parliament has no doubt contributed immensely to strengthening representative democracy, promoting and defending human rights, democracy, the rule of law, transparency, accountability and good governance in the sub-region.
“It has also been actively involved in promoting peace, security and stability. While I feel greatly delighted to commend the ECOWAS Parliament for these invaluable contributions, we must also acknowledge that these multifaceted challenges are still confronting the sub-region in new and complex dimensions.
“Terrorism, banditry, piracy, human trafficking, human rights abuses, the impact of climate change and bad governance have remained serious impediments to the peace, security and economic development of our sub-region.
“These challenges have placed greater responsibility on the ECOWAS Parliament to continue to carry out its legislative functions with increased vigour, passion and commitment. It is my sincere hope that this session of the Parliament will produce resolutions that will impact positively and go a long way in mitigating these challenges.
“However, it is important to stress that any resolutions reached will amount to nothing if there is no commitment and cooperation on the part of ECOWAS member states. Let me therefore take this auspicious occasion to appeal to our leaders to commit to implementing resolutions of the parliament for the greater good of our sub-region.
“The current challenges confronting our sub-region cannot be decisively addressed unless there is unity of purpose, partnership and cooperation in our decisions and actions.”
Hon. Abbas assured that pledged Nigeria’s Parliament resolve to “cooperate and partner with the ECOWAS Parliament in the areas of building legislative capacity, sharing of experiences and ensuring that resolutions passed are implemented.
“In doing this, we shall take advantage of Nigeria’s strong representation in the ECOWAS Parliament to push for debates and resolutions that will be of immense political, economic and social benefits to our sub-region.
“Thankfully, West Africa is hugely endowed with human and material resources that can transform the sub-region into a model for democracy, economic prosperity, peace and political stability. Let us work together to ensure that this noble goal is achieved.”
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