Mali, Niger, B’Faso Absent At ECOWAS Parliament

Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and Mali were absent at the meeting of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, which began on Monday in Kano State, Nigeria.

The meeting is expected to discuss member states’ socio-economic, political, security and other challenges bedeviling the sub-region.

Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and Mali had last year pulled out of ECOWAS, after they were sanctioned over military takeover of power.

Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Dr. Barau Jibrin, explained that representatives from Togo, who did not participate in the previous meeting, are expected to attend the Kano meeting.

“Representatives from Togo were not there in the previous meeting because there were no elections in that country then; but now elections have taken place and we are expecting them to be around within the period we are going to have this event; and they will hopefully be sworn in on Thursday,” he added.

Jubrin said the agenda for the meeting was all-encompassing, including the economy, security and other challenges facing member-states.