Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, on Friday, threw his weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s border closure order, saying “it is in the interest of Nigeria as a country.”
Omo-Agege spoke at the event organised by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German Foundation, titled: “The Role of Parliaments in Supranational Communities” in Abuja.
“The closure or better management of the borders as of today, is in our national interest.
“We can recall that the ECOWAS Parliament in a recent resolution called on Nigeria to reopen these borders.
“Whilst we prefer to build bridges of regional integration, we agree with the government of His Excellence, President Muhammadu Buhari that all member states have a bounden duty to comply fully with the letters and spirit of the Revised Protocol.
“That way, national integration and regional economies and the high aim of regional integration would be safe rather than unduly threatened by the action of member states who breach the Protocol,” he said.
Omo-Agege, who was represented by Efe Duku, his Special Adviser on Legislative and Plenary Matters, said Nigeria would not reopen its borders until the issue about the ECOWAS Protocol is corrected.
He said ultimately, the action would also be “in the interest of ECOWAS as a region though they may not agree.”
The deputy senate president said it is a considered opinion of Nigeria that non-compliance with the provisions of the treaty regarding the management of borders is already impacting negatively on Nigeria as a nation, hence, the need to take action.
Omo-Agege, who examined the ECOWAS Perspectives in the Role of Parliaments, said the distinct feature of any parliamentary democracy is that the people are represented by their elected representatives in their legislature.
According to him, the voices of all are heard while the will of the majority are advanced through the lawmaking, representation and oversight core functions of their parliaments within Baron Charles Montesquieu’s popular doctrine of Separation of power.
The deputy senate president, who commended KAS for its effort, said “I have been briefed about your persistent strategic support for our legislative institutions and security sector reforms.”
Hon. Ossai Ossai, Chairman, House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, also supported the deputy senate president on border closure.
The lawmaker, who said any goods coming into the country must pass through proper channel, said it was disheartening that most of the ECOWAS countries had breached the agreements signed.
“In order to protect your own country, other countries must also respect the agreements signed,” he said.
On his part, Senator Ajibola Basiru, Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora, NGOs and CSOs, noted that ECOWAS countries are still faced with a lot of challenges which have impacted on the effectiveness of the regional body.
“There is weak bureaucracy, lack of productivity and economic issue.
“We have issues of security and, of of course, affiliation to former colonial powers and social cultural differences,” he said.
The former President of European Parliament, Dr Hans-Gert Potteering, in his speech on the “Role of Parliaments in Supranational Communities: European Union( EU) as a Case Study,” said EU began with the process of European integration after the Second World War.
“We took the lesson of our terrible European history fighting against each other and there was statement.
“We thought we should unite and not separated or war against each other.
“So the integration process started and finally we formed European Parliament.
“And when we started, the parliament had no legislative powers but now after about 40 years, it is very strong and we have a lot of treaties between the members of EU which gave the parliament more and more power,” he said.
He, however, advised that ECOWAS members should be ready to live peacefully with one another.
Potteering, who is also the former chairman of KAS, advised on building a strong institution.
He said independent of the judiciary and other organs of government must be ensured.
“The principle of rule of law must be respected and every member country must work towards integration process,” he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Resident Representative of KAS in Nigeria, Dr Vladimir Kreck, urged participants to share experiences on the roles parliaments play in supranational communities.