Abuja, 10^th May 2018. The President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Jean-Claude Kassi Brou has enlisted the cooperation of the Community Parliament on adherence by Member States to their commitments to the regional integration process.

Delivery an address on the 10^th of May 2018 in Abuja, Nigeria, on the occasion of the 1^st Ordinary session of the 4th legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament, President Brou told the august body that there is now a high need to make the Community Parliament a key institution for monitoring the adherence to such commitments.

It was President Brou’s inaugural speech to the Community Parliamentarians. He assured them: “My team and I and all other ECOWAS Institutions stand ready to work simultaneously and closely with the ECOWAS Parliament for fruitful cooperation in the shared interest of our community”.

The ECOWAS Commission President disclosed further that he was preparing to present the status of the Community to the parliamentarians, an exercise which would allow for a review of the progress accomplished in recent years as well as an appraisal of the new challenges ahead which he said, required the collective efforts of all.

Paying tributes to Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of States and Government Faure Gnassingbe, President of Togolese Republic he also called for a collective effort in the advancement of the regional integration process stressing that the ECOWAS governance system has a unique model which sets the pace among other Regional Economic Communities (REC) on the African Continent.

Welcoming delegates and members to the 2018 1^st Ordinary session, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Moustapha Cisse Lo informed the attendees that since the beginning of the 2018 parliamentary processes, with a parliamentary forum and extraordinary session in Dakar, Senegal, activities of the parliament have been going hand in hand with the pursuit of activities aimed at implementing the annual programme of the Parliament.

Maintaining that far reaching programme of activities were adopted at the extraordinary session, Lo disclosed that apart from organizing delocalized meetings, the oversight function over the activities of community agencies and programmes is on the verge of being implemented, being one of the important powers of the Parliament.

He said a proposal on the implementation framework of the parliamentary oversight would be handed to the President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou during the current session.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco Rachid El Abdi who was a guest at the occasion seized the opportunity to call forth the solidarity of Morocco with West Africa.

Noting that Morocco is one of the countries with great commitment to the African Continent, he said it was for that reason as well as deepening relations with the region that his country has expressed the desire to join ECOWAS.

Also present at the 1^st Ordinary session were the President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice Justice Jerome Traore and representative of the Senate president of the Nigerian National Assembly Mr. Yusuf Lasun, the Secretary- General of the ECOWAS Parliament Mr. John Azumah, the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mrs Finda Koroma as well as officials standing in for international and inter-African organizations.

During the current session, there will be meetings of joint committees on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism, Legal and Judicial Affairs, Human Rights, Protection of the child and other vulnerable groups, as well as on Gender, Women empowerment and social protection, among others. Also slated is an interactive session with the new Commissioners of the ECOWAS Commission.