After serving in an acting capacity for almost two months, Nigerian Deputy Senate President and the First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament), Senator Barau Jubrin, will be handing over the baton to the substantive Speaker, Memounatou Ibrahima.
Ibrahima, Togolese, was elected, yesterday in Kano State, Nigeria, where the 2024 Extraordinary Session of the Sixth Legislature of the Community Parliament opened early in the week.
She was one of the Togolese delegations sworn in by the Parliament before the conduct of the election for the speakership position.
Other members from the country include Senou Soklingbe and Patrick Kodjovi Senam Bolouvi. The delegation could not join at the beginning of the session as they had to wait for the country’s election that would produce the lawmakers. The situation almost resulted in controversy during the inauguration of the session in early April over who heads the Parliament while waiting for Togolese delegation to join.
At the end of the debate, Senator Barou, who was elected the first deputy Speaker was sworn in as the Acting Speaker pending when Togo would send its delegation from where the position of the Speaker had been zoned.
Ibrahima, who was the Third Deputy Speaker of the fifth Legislature of the parliament is the first female to have been elected Speaker since the establishment of ECOWAS Parliament in the year, 2000.
