OLU IBEKWE

Nigeria’s five member delegation to the ongoing Sixth Ordinary Session of the Fourth Parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) is yet to show up six days after the opening Session on Monday May 7, 2018. The only Nigerian parliamentarian that was seen around PAP premises was there to renew his African Union (AU) diplomatic passport at the Office of the Clerk of the Parliament. This indeed leaves much to be desired for a country that prides itself as the giant of Africa. The Pan African Parliament is the legislative arm and one of AU’s eleven organs with a purpose of representing the African people as set forth in Article 17 of the AU Constitutive Act “to ensure the full participation of African peoples in the development and economic integration of the continent.” It has up to 275 members representing 55 AU member States. There are eleven Permanent Committees and five Regional Caucuses all of which discuss thematic issues and adopt their Rules of Procedure. One of its objec...

History was made yesterday May 10, 2018 when parliamentarians of the Parliament Pan African Parliament (PAP) overwhelmingly re-elected His Excellency, Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang of Cameroon as its fifth President. He secured 133 votes to defeat his closest rival Senator Fortune Charumbira of Zimbabwe who secured 47 votes and Hon. Moustafa El Gendy of Egypt who secured 44 votes. The election was transparently conducted as the defeated candidates quickly congratulated the winner. Hon. Nkodo who had earlier served as the Parliament’s First Vice President, was elected President in May, 2015 for a three year term which expired this month. His historic re-election marked the first time that the occupier of the office had sought re-election. As required by the Rules of Procedure of the PAP, Hon. Nkodo was immediately sworn in to begin a new three year tenure. In his speech after the election, Hon. Nkodo thanked both Senator Charumbira and Hon. El Gendy for the manner they conducted the...

The Sixth Ordinary Session of the Fourth Parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) kicked off today May 7, 2018 in Midrand, Republic of South Africa with the swearing in of seventy one African Parliamentarians as new members of the Parliament. In his opening remarks, PAP President His Excellency Roger Nkodo Dang welcomed the newly sworn in parliamentarians noting that the theme of this session is “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation” For the first time, a five member delegation from Morocco was sworn in, marking the admission of that country into the continental parliamentary body. Among those sworn in today (as part of the South African Parliament delegation) are Hon. Julius Maleme, leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters and Hon. Mandlesizwe Mandela. Julius Maleme’s swearing generated some applause given his role as leader of the Opposition at the South African Parliament. It is believed that his presence at ...