The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament has given its full support to the proposed project of its Press Corps, Association of West African Legislative Correspondents (AWALCO) “Launch of the ECOWAS Parliament Press Corps’ Annual Award On Democracy, Good Governance and Parliamentary Hall of Fame”.
The Secretary General (SG) of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mr. John Azumah gave the endorsement when the Interim Executives of the association paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
In the meeting, facilitated by the Head, Communications Division, Mrs. Uche Nwaotule, the Secretary General lauded the project as a veritable initiative that will help strengthen the relationship between the Press Corps and the regional legislature which will further boost the engagement of the citizens of West Africa in the affairs of the parliament.
The proposed AWALCO maiden awards ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, for Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at the Transcorps Hilton, Abuja, by 4.00 pm was postponed due to unforseen circumstances and a new date to be communicated soon.
As a new date is being worked on, the ECOWAS Parliament’s Secretary General, Mr. John Azumah promised to raise a team from the parliament to liaise with strategic partners to achieve the objective.
He however, tasked the Press Corps to come up with a paper especially on the criteria for the award, which must be thorough.
The Parliament however, is counting on the Press Corps to be at the forefront of pushing for more powers for the parliament, especially on the issue of direct election, which will deepen democracy and forestall incidences of unconstitutional change of power particularly through coups in the sub-region which AWALCO must be more diligent and dutiful as it work with the Parliament’s team.
The Parliament’s Scribe further noted that more commitment is required from the association in time and resources as it has to brace up for the task ahead.
Since, the established of ECOWAS parliament by Article 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993, and the Supplementary Act (2016) on the enhancement of the powers of the Parliament, the press corps has been giving comprehensive media coverage to its activities to bring the people up to speed with adequate information that could foster good governance as well as keeping the Members and other government officials accountable at all times.
The inaugural session of the ECOWAS Parliament held in Bamako, Mali, on November 16, 2000 and to mark this milestone, the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon. Sidi Mohammed Tunis declared a year-long anniversary celebration, from November 16, 2020 to November 15, 2021.
To this end, AWALCO caps the celebration with the association’s own activities as a front-line stakeholder in the ECOWAS affairs. ReplyForward
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