ECOWAS lawmakers seek stronger powers to tackle climate, security crises

Accra, Ghana (NAN) West Africa’s escalating climate pressures have exposed a deeper institutional dilemma concerning whether ECOWAS Parliament has sufficient authority to translate regional concerns into enforceable action.

The regional parliamentarians raised the concern on Friday during the parliament’s weeklong 2026 Second Extraordinary Session and Seminar in Accra, Ghana.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event is themed: “Climate Change as A Driver of Environmental Degradation, Population Displacement and Rising Insecurity.”

The seminar is aimed at enabling the regional parliamentarians, experts and other stakeholders to interrogate the link between climate change, population displacement and rising insecurity in West Africa.

The lawmakers noted that Parliament’s limited powers constrained its ability to scrutinise ECOWAS institutions and ensure recommendations addressing urgent regional challenges receive meaningful implementation.

“The articles have to be amended to give ECOWAS more legislative powers, and to also give the ECOWAS judiciary more powers,” they held.

Nigerian lawmaker, Sen. Ali Ndume, for instance, argued that climate change, migration, food insecurity and insecurity increasingly demanded regional responses that advisory recommendations alone may struggle to deliver.

Ndume questioned the practical value of parliamentary advice when implementation ultimately depended on decisions by other ECOWAS organs.

“The issue is how the power of the regional parliament can be increased,” Ndume said, arguing that recommendations should carry greater institutional weight.

‎He also questioned the practical impact of an institution whose recommendations depended on decisions by other ECOWAS organs.

‎”Do we have powers outside of advisory? And how many of the pieces of advice rendered have honestly been considered?” he asked, describing climate change as a governance test.

The debate gained urgency as participants examined environmental degradation, pastoralism, land use and population displacement, including tensions arising from cross-border movement of pastoral communities.

The lawmakers said strengthening Parliament’s authority would also sharpen accountability, because regional lawmakers would possess greater responsibility for the decisions and policies they advocate.

The ECOWAS Parliament’s framework envisages evolving powers, including legislative functions in defined areas, but its largely advisory role continues to raise questions about converting regional deliberations into enforceable community action.(NAN)