ECOWAS Parliament Holds Extra-ordinary Session On Niger Coup

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament is set to hold a virtual Extra-Ordinary Session to discuss the recent political developments in the Republic of Niger.

In a statement on Friday by the Communications Division of the parliament, the session will take place today, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023.

The statement added that the day-long session would see the 115-member parliament considering the emerging developments following the unconstitutional change of government by the military of the Republic of Niger.

“Thus, the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance came into force in 2001, marking an important stage in the sub-region’s political development.

“Military regimes and one-party systems caved in for the emergence of multi-Party democracies.

“Nevertheless, recent political developments in the region are pointing toward a reversal of the political gains of the past two decades.

“There is a resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government through military coup d’etat, as recorded in four Member States of the sub-region, namely: the Republics of Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and most recently, Niger,’’ the statement reads.

Recall that Niger’s military imprisoned President Mohamed Bazoum and assumed power, drawing condemnation from international powers such as the Unted Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU).

The ECOWAS Parliament has a total of 115 seats and 14 Standing Committees. Each member state is guaranteed a minimum of five seats allotted, with the remaining 40 seats distributed in proportion to the population of each country.

Consequently, Nigeria has a total of 35 seats, followed by Ghana with eight seats. Côte d’Ivoire is allotted seven seats, while Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal have six seats, respectively.

The remaining ECOWAS member states, namely Benin, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo, have allotted to each of them five seats.