Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, and the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, among others, were on Thursday inaugurated as members of the sixth ECOWAS Parliament.

 

The inauguration which took place on Thursday at the International Conferences Centre, Abuja, was graced by President Bola Tinubu, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, representatives of parliamentarians of other ECOWAS countries, diplomats and top government officials.

 

The lawmakers were inaugurated into the ECOWAS Parliament by Tinubu, who doubles as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

 

Natasha Akpoti and other newly elected members of the ECOWAS Parliament took their oath during the opening session.

 

The ECOWAS Parliament is one of the institutions established by the ECOWAS Treaty of May 28, 1975, signed in Lagos, Nigeria.

 

The treaty was revised in July 1993 and signed in Abidjan and it is what is currently in use.

The ECOWAS Parliament comprises 115 members drawn from the 15 member states, of which Nigeria is one.

 

Nigeria has 35 slots – seven senators and 18 House of Representatives members – in the ECOWAS Parliament.

 

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, transmitted the list of the Nigerian delegation to the President of the ECOWAS Commission and the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

 

The leader of the Nigerian Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament is the Deputy President of the Senate.

 

The tenure of members of the parliament is four years beginning from the date of inauguration.