Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Chairman of Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, has called for a stronger role for the ECOWAS Parliament in efforts to reconnect the regional integration project with citizens across West Africa.
Faye said the parliament must remain at the centre of efforts to deepen regional dialogue, citizen participation, and institutional cooperation. He stressed that integration could not be sustained by governments and regional institutions alone.
The Senegalese president spoke on Tuesday in Abuja when he paid an official visit to the ECOWAS Parliament.
Faye was received at the regional parliament by Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mémounatou Ibrahima, and other principal officers of the legislature.
Describing the parliament as the “hub of regional dialogue”, Faye said its representative function was critical to ensuring that citizens were not left on the margins of decisions shaping the future of the West African bloc.
He reaffirmed his support for the parliament and pledged to work with it to advance the objectives of the community.
Faye said regional integration must also be supported by conflict prevention, mediation, public enlightenment, and efforts to promote stability. He urged staff of the legislature to remain dedicated to serving the community.
The visit assumed significance against the backdrop of continuing political, security, and economic pressures across West Africa, which had tested the cohesion of regional institutions and the ability of ECOWAS to maintain a common regional agenda.
Welcoming Faye, Ibrahima said the president’s presence in the parliamentary chamber represented an important moment for the institution and reflected the importance of dialogue and political participation to the ECOWAS integration project.
She drew a connection between Senegal’s tradition of public debate and the parliament’s responsibility to provide a platform through which the voices and aspirations of West Africans could find expression.
The speaker warned against an integration process that remained primarily an undertaking of governments, insisting that citizens must become active participants and beneficiaries of the project.
“Regional integration should not remain merely a project of States, but should become a work of citizens and for citizens,” Ibrahima said.
She reaffirmed the parliament’s commitment to representative democracy, human rights, peace, and security, but said its ability to contribute effectively to those objectives required stronger legislative and oversight functions.
Ibrahima called for the development of a stronger, more representative, and more impactful community parliament capable of playing a greater role in shaping the regional agenda and strengthening the connection between ECOWAS institutions and the people.
First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, said Faye’s visit demonstrated the importance of closer engagement between the regional legislature and Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Giving the vote of thanks, Barau said regular interaction between the two institutions would help translate the aspirations of citizens into concrete regional action.
He assured Faye of the parliament’s cooperation throughout his tenure as ECOWAS chairman, saying the visit has reinforced the need for greater dialogue within the community.
Barau stated, “This visit reinforces our conviction that regular interaction between the Authority of Heads of State and Government and the parliament can help strengthen the coherence of Community action, the representation of our peoples’ aspirations, and their ownership of the regional integration project.”
He said the parliament regarded Faye’s visit as encouragement to continue discussions on the progressive strengthening of its role and ways to establish closer ties between the institution and citizens.
The emphasis on strengthening parliament’s role points to a broader question confronting ECOWAS: how to make regional integration more participatory and responsive at a time when citizens are increasingly demanding institutions that directly address their concerns.
Faye’s engagement with the parliament was part of his official visit to Nigeria to meet ECOWAS institutions based in Abuja and attend the swearing-in of new judges of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.
The engagements provided an opportunity for the ECOWAS leadership to emphasise the importance of stronger coordination among the bloc’s political, parliamentary, and judicial institutions in advancing regional integration.
For the parliament, however, the challenge goes beyond institutional cooperation: it is how to ensure that the ECOWAS integration project is increasingly understood, owned, and shaped by the citizens in whose name the regional bloc operates.