ECOWAS Parliament: Lasun, Others boasted over poor attendance

By Odimmegwa Johnpeter / Abuja

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Moustapha Cisse Lo particularly frowned at the poor attendance by the Nigerian representatives during the just concluded First Ordinary Session of the Parliament in Abuja.

According to Cisse Lo, the lackadaisical attitude of members especially the Nigerian representatives can no longer be tolerated. He was particularly hard on Hon. Yusuf Suleiman Lasun who is the Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives as well as the First Deputy Speaker of the Ecowas Parliament and leader of the Nigerian Delegation. The Speaker recalled that during the previous sessions and throughout the just concluded session, some parliamentarians never showed up and some sparingly did and would collect the daily sitting allowances which we gathered ranges from $250 to $500.

Mr. Cisse Lo said the Bureau of Parliament had been instructed to block the payments of certain Parliamentarians that were absent during the session. A visibly angry Cisse Lo queried why Lasun would avoid proceedings of the Parliament and get full payment, whereas some members who attended for a number of days did not receive full payment of allowance. Cisse Lo said that it was on account of this that he authorized “no attendance, no payment” option in order to sanitize the system and also ensure proper attendance of proceedings of the Parliament. He threatened to report to President Muhammadu Buhari if any of the members protested against the decision he took on the payment issue.

His words “Lasun, who never came, is being given full payment. And he is never here. I blocked that payment. “Yes, I lost my temper. I was out of myself. I gave authorization because I want to have the list of attendance. I authorized it”. The Speaker doubled down on the leader of the Nigerian delegation. “Lasun never came and he wants to get full payment, if he must be paid, everybody must be paid. It is not my money, but the community’s money. It is not acceptable. If you protest, I will write to President Buhari”.

At the time of filling this report, Lasun was said to have travelled to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj. A source close to him described the speaker’s outburst as “playing to the gallery” adding that Lasun had taken permission to travel. Reacting to the matter, member of the Nigerian Delegation to the Ecowas Parliament, Hon. Biodun Olujimi said Cisse Lo overreacted on the issue.

Her words, “For me, that was too personal because the Parliament is not to attack individuals, especially if you are a leader, you must be able to manage issues behind closed doors. You don’t need to bring anything up on tur floor of the House”. Olujimi further noted that Parliament was supposed to be a place where Information is distilled and policies formulated, and not a place where petty, personal issues are brought.

She added, ”I am not in favour of anyone not attending. However, the Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives is abvery busy person. He is put here so that he can oversee and can overlap once in a while. “I remember that the last time he came, he was asked to sit. I saw him, he took his book and walked away. If you treated him that way, were glyou going to expect him to come back?

“So, it is believed the Speaker should be a lot more receptive to Information and must be able to call people and talk to them and ask questions rather than come and vituperate on the floor of the Parliament” she said.

However, a source in the Ecowas Parliament told National Daily on the condition of anonymity that the issue of poor attendance by Nigerian Representatives has been a recurring decimal. All the last session of the Parliament in 2017, the Speaker of the Parliament Moustapha Cisse Lo particularly frowned at the low attendance by the Nigerian Representatives. Rather than step up their attendance, many Nigerian Representatives still shunned the Parliament. Some of them only come in, sign the attendance register and leave.

However, a reputable political analyst and current affairs commentator said the excuse of the Nigerian Representatives for their poor attendance at the Ecowas Parliament should be discountenanced. He said it was just a reflection of their lackadaisical attitude to the Nigerian Parliament, saying that a leopard cannot change its spots.

Nigeria has contributed more money to the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) than 13 other members states put together in the last 12 years.

This disproportionate contribution to ECOWAS funding against the backdrop of poor Parliament participation is indicative that Nigeria is punching below its weight in terms of influence in ECOWAS parliament

Statistics on payment of the community levy showed that between 2003 and 2015, Nigeria paid $710, 497,352 equivalents to 480,355,205 West Africa units of account (UA). The west Africa UA is the official nominal monetary unit of measure or currency used to represent the real value. In the same period, 13 other countries contributed a cumulative amount of 697.947 million dollars. According to the statistics, a total of $1.736 billion was contributed within the period by all 15 members states, with Nigeria paying 40.9 percent of the amount however, the contributions by Nigeria is not equivalent to the weight it pulls in the sub regional body, especially in the parliament. For instance, out of the 35 seats allocated to Nigeria in the parliament, many of the representatives are usually absent during plenary. At the plenary in May 2018 only four members out of 35 were present on the day Nigeria presented on the day Nigeria presented its country report. Also, during its recent ongoing secondary First ordinary session, less than 10 were present for the aforementioned presentation. The absenteeism by Nigerians also got the attention of the Bureau of parliament and other members who expressed displeasure at the attitude of the Nigerians. Some representatives from Nigeria also admitted that the attitude had become worrisome and needed to be addressed.