Rep. Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Speaker, Nigeria’s House of Representatives, says the ECOWAS Parliament wants to amend its Supplementary Act so as to entrench Separation of Powers and guarantee legislative autonomy.
Kalu disclosed this in an interview with the newsmen in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
He spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of the parliament’s Joint Committee on Administration, Finance, Budget, Public Accounts, Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, of which he is Chairman.
According to him, when laws become obsolete, they outlive their usefulness to the dynamic society, hence, the need to amend them to strengthen the legislature.
He said that if this was not done, it would allow the executive to become the ‘judge in their own case.’
The parliamentarian said that the attendant scenario of weak subregional institutions would culminate in their losing credibility before the international community.
He expressed confidence that the move would get the buy-in of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
Kalu added that all the member states would want to see it happen.
