The Deputy Speaker, Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has said that parliamentary diplomacy mechanisms put in place by ECOWAS is already in progress to engage Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger on their plan to exit the sub-regional bloc.
Kalu, who spoke to journalists during an interview in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, allayed the fears of members over such exit threats coming from the three West African countries.
According to Kalu, ‘There are already mechanisms in place, through what is called parliamentary diplomacy, to reach out to them.
“Letters have been sent to them, and very soon, some of us will start visiting those countries to engage the heads of government.
“We’ll open up the doors for them to come back to the family; We need them.
“We’ll tell them, for instance, that, granted, maybe they were offended by one or two things, but let us sit down again and discuss,” the deputy speaker stressed.
He added: “You can’t just forget them and say it doesn’t matter; that they can go on their own.
“No! We have to reach out to them and say we are better off as one family. I’m sure it’s going to work.”
Consequently, he noted that incase the three countries leaves the regional bloc, ECOWAS would not be threatened financially, adding that there was a clear definition of the sources of ECOWAS revenue and the Community Levy is just one of them.
“There are many other sources. So, we want to make sure that we streamline it and know where monies are coming from.
“If these are not enough, we will increase because there are so many development agencies, there are so many people who are interested in the sub-region.
“There are multiple ways of raising funds for the parliament, as well as the community,” Kalu said
