Analysts have expressed the view that there is an urgent need to enhance the role of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the bloc’s budget formulation, monitoring and implementation process.
They posit that a robust parliamentary oversight and input in the budgetary process will enable ECOWAS to prudently allocate scarce funds to achieve its crucial goal of fostering an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful subregion.
A cross-section of stakeholders agree that this will culminate in the adequate funding of the bloc’s multifaceted projects and programmes, toward achieving the overall aims and objectives of subregional cooperation and development.
For Parliament to chart the course toward achieving the “Vision 2050 ECOWAS of the People” goal,” therefore, it must push for reforms in the Community’s budget formulation, monitoring and implementation.
ECOWAS is currently grappling with myriad challenges, including paucity of funds, economic instability, global inflation, climate change, the existential threat of some member states’ decision to exit, terrorism and violent extremism, among others.
To mitigate the herculean challenges of financial constraints, budget formulation, monitoring and implementation confronting Parliament, a Joint Committee of the Parliament recently convened an oversight delocalised meeting in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast.
(7th from right): The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Memounatou Ibrahima; (3rd from left): Rep Benjamin Kalu, Chairman of the Joint Committee and Deputy Speaker, Nigeria’s House of Reps, with other parliamentarians and participants during the parliament’s recent delocalised Joint Committee Meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
The Committee comprised the parliament’s standing committees on Administration, Finance, Budget, Public Accounts, Macroeconomic Policy, and Economic Research.
The event, which drew participants and key stakeholders from all walks of life, to brainstorm and engage with one another, had as its main theme: ‘’The Role of the ECOWAS Parliament in Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring.”
The Speaker of the Parliament, Memounatou Ibrahima, while declaring the event open, urged participants to reflect on strategies that would enable the Parliament to play a more active role in the budgetary process in light of the subregion’s prevailing challenges, going forward.
She said the meeting was an opportunity for collaboration and reflection on the strategies that member states must adopt, to address the role of the Parliament in the community’s budgetary process, against the backdrop of current realities.
“The goal is to allow the lawmakers to better understand the challenges related to the examination of the community budget, to strengthen and consolidate the collaboration between the ECOWAS Parliament and other community institutions.
“I am convinced that our discussions on the role of the ECOWAS Parliament in this collaborative effort and follow-up of the Community budget will generate relevant analyses and solid recommendations to accelerate our resolution toward a Community of fully integrated peoples.
“This will culminate in a peaceful and prosperous region with strong and respectful institutions of fundamental freedom working for a sustainable and inclusive development,” she said.
The speaker noted that the financial difficulties and dangers, which the subregion was currently facing, threatened the execution and realisation of community projects and programmes that necessitated increased funding by member states.
She urged member states to scale up their funding of the bloc in order for ECOWAS to meet its immediate and long term financial needs, saying that such commitments would reinforce their responsibility and solidarity toward achieving the “Vision 2050 ECOWAS of the People” goal.
Corroborating Ibrahima’s view, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, Chairman of the Joint Committee and Deputy Speaker, Nigeria’s House of Representatives, said effective budget oversight was critical to achieving the Community’s goals.
He said the Parliament’s role in formulating and monitoring the Community’s budget was key to ensuring transparency and accountability in the application of the Community’s financial resources.
Kalu affirmed that it was imperative for Parliament to engage with key stakeholders, such as the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), to ensure that funds were judiciously utilised.
“By carefully planning, ECOWAS can identify which programmes need more resources, and where reductions are possible, thus optimising resource allocation.
“This process ensures that ECOWAS’s resources are effectively directed towards achieving its strategic objectives, providing transparency and accountability,” he said.
Amb. Olawale Awe, Chairman of the ECOWAS Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), while aligning with Ibrahima and Kalu, maintained that the ECOWAS Parliament, the ECOWAS Commission, and AFC must work in synergy to achieve budgetary and financial reform success.
Speaking on the sub-theme: “The Working Relationship between the ECOWAS Parliament, the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC),” he argued that ECOWAS economic and monetary integration policies, including the Community budget, must be a joint decision by the trio.
Awe insisted that it was fundamental for the three entities to work in synergy for effective coordination and collaboration to achieve the successful implementation of the Community budget, policies and programs.
“It can be argued that despite their distinct functions, they all play complementary roles in the financial management of the organisation, in that there is an interplay of their respective roles and responsibilities.
“Together, transparency and accountability in the Community’s financial processes and management can be improved,” he said.
Dr Rasheed Draman, a resource person and Executive Director, African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Accra, Ghana, in his presentation, called for the amendment of ECOWAS Parliament’s Supplementary Act as the first step toward empowering the lawmakers for effective budgetary role.
He noted that the Supplementary Act was silent on the “real” powers needed by the Parliament to formulate and scrutinise the budget and, where possible, disagree and even reject the budget.
According to him, until the text of the Supplementary Act is revised to make the ECOWAS Parliament a “legislative body with legislative powers,” members and committees will have to work within the currently deficient framework.
Speaking on the sub-theme: “ECOWAS Parliament in Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring, he said the ECOWAS Parliament’s role in the Community’s budget process must also be viewed within the context of their respective national parliaments’ budget politics.
“The parliamentarians should be mindful of the politics of the sub-region, and propose a ‘gradualist’ approach to enhancing their powers to mark the beginning of the trajectory towards their full legislative powers.
“Instead of asking for full legislative powers, they should opt for a joint decision-making process between Parliament and the Council of Ministers regarding legislation/bills and budgetary matters of the community,” Draman suggested.
Prof. May Nwoye, Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Nile University, Abuja, urged the ECOWAS Parliament to ensure effective formulation, monitoring, and implementation of budgets to drive subregional development.
Nwoye spoke on the sub-theme: “Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of the ECOWAS Parliament in Considering and Monitoring the Community Budget.”
She said that parliamentarians should be committed to ensuring that the budget always effectively and efficiently aligned with the long-term goal of ECOWAS integration Vision 2050.
The don stressed the need for parliament to have a cordial working relationship with the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee, toward amending the 2016 Supplementary Act.
Nwoye also proposed that the Parliament should leverage ICT tools to improve budget monitoring and control, by deploying budgeting software for real-time performance tracking and automated reporting.
The Management Scientist further advocated the establishment of a parliamentary budget oversight committee to regularly review and oversee budget performance to ensure accountability and transparency.
One of the key outcomes of the Abidjan meeting was the adoption of a Joint Committee Report, and its recommendations to Plenary, the Council of Ministers, as well as the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
The lawmakers recommend a collaborative approach to budget oversight, and the constituting of a budget harmonisation committee, comprising members from the ECOWAS Commission, the Council of Ministers, and the ECOWAS Parliament, to always review the Community budget before it is finalised.
The Report proposes sending a parliamentary diplomatic mission to other regional parliaments, such as the European Union and the East African Legislative Assembly, a peer review mechanism aimed at studying their foreign counterparts’ achievements and deploying the insights garnered from it to strengthen Parliament’s budgetary role.
It also recommends the formation of a Resource Pool and budget framework to ensure that the community budget is managed effectively by aligning the functions of AFC and Parliament to avoid duplication of efforts toward ensuring efficient resource allocation.
The Report also recommends the direct election of its members to the ECOWAS Parliament, similar to that of the European Parliament, to give them greater legitimacy, power and authority to confront the hydra-headed issues burdening Community budget formulation, monitoring and implementation.
The parliamentarians also recommend the outright review of the ECOWAS Parliament’s 2016 Supplementary Act, which outlines its powers, in order to give the Parliament greater autonomy, authority and power to enhance its functions.
Sen. Osita Izunaso, First Rapporteur of the Parliament’s Joint Committee and Nigerian Senator (APC-Imo West), while commenting on the Report, said the amendments should also include mandating that some key appointments in ECOWAS, like the President of the Commission and Commissioners, be subjected to parliamentary confirmation.
Analysts are of the view that the key to achieving overall success in these efforts is for the ECOWAS Parliament to put its best foot forward by first amending the Supplementary Act to give it total legislative power and authority, in terms of budgeting and auditing.(NANFeatures)
