The ECOWAS Parliament has endorsed the decision of the ECOWAS heads of state and government decision to impose sanctions on the Niger Republic and Guinea if the unstable political situation in those two countries persists.
Mr. Mahamane Ousmane, Speaker of the Parliament revealed this on Monday in Abuja at the closing ceremony of the extra-ordinary session of the parliament.
The session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS during an extra-ordinary summit on October 17 threatened to impose sanctions on Niger if it goes ahead with the conduct of the October 20 parliamentary elections among other things.
Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is the first deputy speaker of the Parliament, commended the Authority for taking a firm decision on the situation.
He urged ECOWAS to impose full sanctions on both countries if they fail to adhere to the recommendations of the summit.
“We are getting indications that the authorities in Niger are planning to proceed with the elections of October 20. This is where the strong will comes in.
’’We expect that the heads of state must not only bark but bite, we must show that we mean every word of what we said,” Ekweremadu said.
He said the parliament was willing to support the ECOWAS Authority and Commission in invoking article 45 of the ECOWAS supplementary protocol on Democracy and Good governance.
Ekweremadu however called for more dialogue with the authorities in Guinea considering the delicate and fragile nature of the situation.
“The approach to Guinea will be a bit different because of the delicate nature. We are going to employ dialogue because we don’t want to plunge the region into further crises,” he said.
He recalled that President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso had been drafted by the ECOWAS Chairman, President Umaru Yar’Adua to mediate in the situation in Guinea because of the need to approach it with caution.
The Authority in their communiqué refused to support candidates from Niger for any elective posts in international organizations and not to organize ECOWAS meetings in the country.
As regards Guinea, an arms embargo was imposed under the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons and Ammunitions and related materials to forestall further killings of innocent Guineans.
Source African Press Agency
