The federal government has approved the sum of $6million for the construction of the new Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS parliament in Abuja.
?Speaker of the parliament and Nigeria’s deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, made this known, yesterday, at the opening of the Second Ordinary Session of the Third Legislature of the ECOWAS parliament in Abuja.
Ekweremadu said that the money for the construction of the state of the art complex which is expected to house all members of the parliament and remaining staff who lack accommodation, has already been paid into the parliament’s account.
?“Tender processes and drawings are ongoing and I see no reason why the building should not be completed in record time”, Ekweremadu said.
He also disclosed that the present complex was faced with the challenges of leaking roofs, non-serviceable elevators to mention a few. To that effect, another financial provision has been made in the 2012 budget of the Ministry for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for rehabilitation of the complex, the speaker said.
Ekweremadu commended the parliamentarians for the role they played in addressing the recent dispute between Nigeria and Ghana which led to the suspension of the full implementation of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Foreign Investment Act, 1994.
The development, he said, had further highlighted how helpful the parliament could be in integration and development if its powers were further enhanced.
?Nigeria’s Senate President David Mark in his remarks called on all national parliaments of the ECOWAS member states to deploy legislative tools to ensure adequate security funding to tackle terrorism.
“Unfortunately, the evil campaigns of these pretenders are wrapped in religious cloaks in the name of fundamentalism to sway emotions and buy cheap sentiments,” he said.
Mark appealed for a collective resistance to nip terrorism in the sub-region in the bud, and warned that the scourge can cripple economies, trigger avoidable wars and annihilate national sovereignties.
In the same vein, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal urged the parliament to discuss the twin issues of insecurity and terrorism and come up with strategies that would guide national parliaments to tackle the scourge.
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