ECOWAS Parliament elects Memounatu Ibrahima as first female Speaker
The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has elected Memounatou Ibrahima as the first female Speaker to lead the regional legislative arm.
Ibrahima, from Togo, was elected at the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session of the Sixth Legislature of the Community Parliament in Kano State, North-West Nigeria.
She emerged as speaker due to the rotation of the speakership of the Community Parliament in alphabetical order in accordance with the provision of Supplementary Act on Enhancement of Power
Memounatou was the third Deputy Speaker in the fifth Legislature of ECOWAS Parliament; she has been in the Parliament since 2021.
Before her emergence as Speaker, Nigeria’s deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who is the First Deputy, acted as Speaker at the inauguration of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament on April 4, 2024