Representatives of member states at the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Parliament would be elected by direct universal adult suffrage at the end of 2010, Mr. John Tia Akologu, the Minister of Information, has said.
He said this was to give legislative powers to the ECOWAS Parliament and make it more relevant and purposeful as well as improve its public image and the quality of democracy in the sub-region.
Mr. Akologu said this at a forum on the activities of ECOWAS Parliament at Wa on Wednesday.
"The current Parliament is transitional and its role is advisory and consultative," he said.
"As it is now, it does not have legislative powers and its members are also not directly elected by the people but are rather elected by their national parliament to the community parliament".
Mr. Akologu said steps were being taken to broaden grassroots participation in the selection process of future parliamentarians.
He said citizens of the community other than members of national parliaments would be eligible to contest to become members of the ECOWAS Parliament.
It is envisaged that a directly elected parliament would play a more prominent role in the integration process beyond the present role of
providing advice and being consultative to the authority of Heads of States, the Council of Ministers and other community institutions.
Mr. Akologu said under the process, electoral laws applicable in respective member states would be implemented as the mode of election.
He said each member state would be a constituency and maintain the number of seats allocated to it to ensure free and fair elections as well as promote participation and choice from the grassroots.