Abuja — The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will elect a new speaker at its 2024 second extraordinary session starting in Kano State today.

The delegation from Togo is expected to be sworn in during the extraordinary session after the conduct of their parliamentary elections and the names of the Togolese representatives sent to the community parliament.

Under the rotational system, the speakership of the Sixth Legislature of the regional body was zoned to the Republic of Togo.

Nigerian deputy Senate president, Barau Jibrin, who is the first deputy speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, was elected as the acting speaker of the parliament at the inaugural session of the parliament earlier in the year.

There was no delegation of the Republic of Togo at the time as the country had not conducted an election to produce representatives to the community parliament.

In order not to create a vacuum, Barau, as the first deputy speaker, has been acting as the speaker of the parliament pending when the Togolese delegation is inaugurated.

Senator Barau told journalists on Monday that the representatives from Togo would be attending a session later in the week and will hopefully be sworn in on Thursday.

He also said the extraordinary session is being held in Kano to bring the community parliament closer to the people.