By John Ikani
Nigerian representatives at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament have threatened to withdraw Nigeria’s membership from the legislature of the regional economic bloc.
The development is coming against the background of alleged lopsided recruitments at the ECOWAS Parliament reportedly skewed to serve the personal interest of member states to the exclusion of Nigeria.
The lawmakers raised concern over the huge financial commitments that Nigeria makes to the body while relegating funding to its internal security challenges. They further complained that despite the country’s huge investment, there was no commensurate return from ECOWAS for all it has done and continues to do in the region.
In June, at the 2022 First Ordinary Session of the Parliament, the lawmakers passed a resolution to suspend the recruitment exercise after Nigerian representatives at the parliament alleged discrimination and lopsidedness in the recruitment of workers at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.
Despite this, ECOWAS Parliament went ahead with the recruitment.
Reacting to the development during an interview with Nigeria’s Vanguard Newspaper, the leader of the Nigerian delegation and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, who is also the first deputy speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Ahmed Idris Wase said: “If you are in a system, and you are not getting the right results, where you are investing your money, it pays best to walk out of the union.
“In a situation where we are having an infrastructural deficit and witnessing security challenges, why should we continue to invest our money where it will not benefit our country?
“Yes, we will pull out if we don’t get the desired result from this,” he said.
Wasse went on to note that “we are asking for justice not just for Nigerians alone, but for the entire ECOWAS community. That is what MPs are asking for. There are few countries that want to run ECOWAS like a cabal but we will not tolerate that.”
Nigeria currently finances over 60 percent of the ECOWAS funding and if it makes good its threat, the regional body may face severe financial crisis.
