From Desmond Mgboh, Kano

The Acting Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Barau  Jubrin, yesterday, justified the relocation of the regional parliamentary assembly from Abuja to Kano State, insisting that the shift in venue was designed to bring the meeting closer to the people.

Speaking to journalists in Kano ahead of the assembly which kicks off today, Barau observed that the state is the centre of commerce and the political nerve centre of the Northern Nigeria adding that hosting the parliament in the state would tremendously benefit the people of the state as well as the parliamentarians themselves.

Barau, deputy Senate president, expressed optimism that the outcome of their deliberations would positively impact of the people of the sub- region as a whole.

He disclosed that matters to be deliberated by the assembly cut across economic, social and political challenges, including security. He expressed hope that representatives from Togo, who were absent in the previous parliamentary session because there was no elections in the country, would turn up at the assembly giving that elections had been held there.

The second extraordinary session of ECOWAS Parliament ends on May 25 in Kano. Parliamentarians from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Cape Verde, Cote D’ Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Republic Togo are attending.