By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
To end the threat of coup d’etats in the sub-region, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament has urged the ECOWAS Commission to strengthen collective regional security operations with the African Union.
With the increasing threats of insecurity in the region, the ECOWAS Parliament Committees appealed to the ECOWAS Commission to work hard to strengthen collective regional security operation in collaboration with the African Union and key partners.
This plea was one of the recommendations contained in the draft report presented at the end of a delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committees on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and the African Peer Review Mechanism, Judicial Affairs and Human rights, Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment in Monrovia, Liberia.
The delocalized meeting aimed at mapping out the best mechanisms for ensuring greater political inclusion in governance, peace, and security in member states to prevent and resolve the multifaceted crisis faced by states.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting, Leader of the Liberian Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Senator Edwin Snowe, lamented the backslide in democratic rule in the sub-region, saying it is a shame on the region’s democracy hence must be stopped.
Snowe who also Chaired the Joint Committees’ delocalized meeting was optimistic that the leadership of President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria who is Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of States would intervene in the recent coup in the Republic of Niger.
He recalled that in Guinea Bissau two weeks ago, President Tinubu, had said zero tolerance to coup d’etats and less than two weeks later there was a coup d’etat.
According to him, the region had made significant progress in its drive to democracy so will be detrimental going back to where it come from and expressed hope that something will be done hastily to correct the situation.
Snowe opined that every successful coup with a loss of a member state, it undermines the work of ECOWAS bodies and institutions, and urged ECOWAS not to be a sleeping bulldog as he believes that the leadership of ECOWAS will stand firm in protecting the region’s democracy
The draft report which will be adopted by plenary at the next session of the Parliament contained recommendations to Member States, the ECOWAS Commission and Parliament on ensuring the peace, security, stabilization and good governance in Member States.
