ECOWAS court to encourage one-market free trade in member states ― Kwara gov

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State has said that the ECOWAS Community Court system has the potential to encourage the concept of one market and free trade among the 15 member countries.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the one-week sensitization mission of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Ilorin on Tuesday, the governor, represented by the deputy, Kayode Alabi, said that entrenchment of the rule of law is indispensable in the quest for deepening the regional political and economic ties of member states of ECOWAS.

The governor, who said the ECOWAS court would have a great impact on promoting the Rule of Law in the West African sub-region, added that “the idea of bringing the Court to the general public is commendable as it would enhance public awareness of the activities of the ECOWAS Court of Justice.

“Collectively, these countries comprise an area of over 5 million square kilometres and currently have an estimated population of over 418 million. It is, therefore, imperative that the ECOWAS Court of Justice continues to play a significant role in cementing the legal regime for the development of the ECOWAS region through its adjudicatory mandate in the settlement of disputes. This is particularly important as the concept of one market and free trade continues to gain ground across not only the subregions but also across all of the African continent. There is no doubt that the justice system must be fully involved in this sociopolitical evolution.

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“Our state shares border with an ECOWAS member state: Benin Republic. To that extent, we are building infrastructure to support trade and strengthen regional ties. An example is an international market we are building in Gbugbu, which will attract people from across Nigeria and West African subregion”.

Also speaking, the president of ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, Justice Edward Asante, said the essence of the sensitisation program was to create awareness about the Court, its mandate, jurisdiction, jurisprudence and practice and procedure, amongst ECOWAS Community citizens in the 15 member states.

“Over the years, we have observed a general lack of awareness about the Court, its mandate and jurisdiction by the general public across the sub-region. Following the adoption of the ECOWAS Vision 2020 that transformed ECOWAS from ECOWAS of States to ECOWAS of Peoples, it became imperative for the peoples of the sub-region to be fully sensitised about their Court in order to deepen their knowledge about the Court.

“The programme for our one-week sensitisation programme in North Central, holding in Kwara State has been designed in such a way to enable us to meet and interact with different interest groups and constituencies, during which we will make presentations to meet the peculiar interests of each group.

It will also include an Open Forum, which is a town hall meeting to present an overview of the ECOWAS Court of Justice and its mandates. Moreover, we shall have a Judicial Forum at the High Court for the Honourable Judges of the Kwara State Judiciary which will be a judicial dialogue that will dwell on the relationship between the ECOWAS Court of Justice and national courts of Member States and we shall have Women’s Forum for women groups at the NBA Center, which will focus on the monumental work of the Court in the protection of Women’s Rights. We shall also have a Lawyers Forum at the NBA Center”.