Hon. Idris Wase (APC:Plateau), Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives has emerged as the first Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament after elections by the 15 Member nations on Thursday, 19th September, 2019.
As Deputy Speaker, Hon. Wase is expected to assist the current Speaker, Hon. Moustapha Cisse Lo (from Senegal) preside over meetings and conduct debates in accordance with the ECOWAS Parliament Rules of Procedure. He will also hold the position for a period of five years except he fails to win the next National Assembly election in 2023; following which a new Nigerian representative will complete the remainder of the tenure.
The mandate of the Parliament includes the consideration of human rights issues, the fundamental freedom of its citizens as well as developmental issues such as energy, telecommunications, health, education, scientific and technological research. While the Parliament is composed of 115 seats drawn from elected legislators from its 15 Members States, only 5 seats are guaranteed to each State with the remainder shared on the basis of population. Currently, Nigeria has 35 seats, Ghana 8 seats, Cote d’Ivoire, 7 seats while Senegal, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea have 6 seats each. Benin, Gambia, Cape–Verde, Sierra Leone, Togo, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau have 5 seats each.