The ECOWAS Parliament has renewed calls for stronger legislative powers, with lawmakers warning that its largely advisory role could limit its ability to translate urgent regional concerns into effective action.
The concern was raised on Friday during the Parliament’s week-long 2026 Second Extraordinary Session and Seminar in Accra, Ghana, themed “Climate Change as a Driver of Environmental Degradation, Population Displacement and Rising Insecurity.”
The seminar brought together regional parliamentarians, experts and other stakeholders to examine the growing links between climate change, environmental degradation, population displacement and insecurity across West Africa.
The lawmakers argued that strengthening the Parliament’s authority would enable it to exercise more effective oversight of ECOWAS institutions and improve the implementation of recommendations on pressing regional challenges.
“The articles have to be amended to give ECOWAS more legislative powers, and to also give the ECOWAS judiciary more powers,” they said.
Nigerian lawmaker, Senator Ali Ndume, said climate change, migration, food insecurity and insecurity increasingly required coordinated regional responses that advisory recommendations alone might not be sufficient to deliver.
Ndume questioned the practical impact of parliamentary recommendations when their implementation depended on decisions by other ECOWAS institutions.
“The issue is how the power of the regional parliament can be increased,” he said, arguing that its recommendations should carry greater institutional weight.
“Do we have powers outside of advisory? And how many of the pieces of advice rendered have honestly been considered?” Ndume asked, describing climate change as a test of regional governance.
The debate assumed greater significance as participants examined environmental degradation, pastoralism, land use and population displacement, including tensions associated with the cross-border movement of pastoral communities.
The lawmakers maintained that greater powers would also strengthen accountability, as regional parliamentarians would assume greater responsibility for the decisions and policies they advocate.
Under the 2016 Supplementary Act on the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament, the institution already has defined roles in the enactment of certain Community Acts, parliamentary oversight, budgetary processes and mandatory or non-mandatory referrals. However, its resolutions require further institutional action before becoming Community legal texts.
The latest calls therefore centre on whether those existing powers should be expanded to enable the Parliament to exercise more direct legislative and oversight authority.
The discussion comes as ECOWAS continues to grapple with interconnected climate, food-security, migration and security pressures across the region. The regional bloc has itself identified climate-related pressures, food insecurity and population displacement among the challenges affecting West Africa.
The Accra deliberations are expected to contribute to discussions on strengthening regional institutions and ensuring that parliamentary interventions on climate change and other cross-border challenges translate into practical action.
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