THE NIGERIAN ECONOMIC SITUATION RAISES CONCERN AMONGST MEPS …Member States beseeched to comply with the implementation of the Community Levy Protocol.

The dire economic situation currently being witnessed in Nigeria was topical and drew not a few reactions from Members of Parliament by way of observations, responses and other varied contributions after the Group of Nigerian Parliamentarians presented Nigeria’s Country Report. Members’ concerns were mainly on Nigeria’s capacity to carry out the full implementation of the Community Levy Protocol, given its current economic recession.

Reacting to the Nigerian economic situation, Hon. Sawadogo Salifou (Burkina Faso) registered his concern toward the implication of the economic situation in Nigeria which he posits will likely affect the implementation of the Community levy. He observed that the Nigeria’s Report was silent on the status of the country’s implementation of the Community Levy Protocol.

Reacting in same vain, Hon. Azumah Azimbe (Ghana) recommended that Nigeria does not make what he termed “panic decisions” on economic policies in an attempt to alleviate the current economic recession in the country.

On the other hand, Hon. Carlos Alberto Delgado (Cape Verde) pointed out a portion of the Nigerian Report which according to the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), states that “in the 2^nd Quarter of 2016, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by -2.1 percent”, a worrisome situation when compared with the growth rate of “-0.4 percent recorded in the 1^st Quarter of 2016”, marking a 1.7 lower points.  Hon. Delgado concluded by asking what measures the Nigerian Government would be taking in respect to getting its economy back on track.

Reacting to the concerns raised by the Honourable Members on the status of the implementation of the Community levy by Nigeria, Hon. Chuba Lynda Ikpeazu assured the Plenary that the Nigerian delegation would consult with relevant authorities in the country and revert to the House. She also stated that the Nigerian government is taking the implementation of banned commodities seriously and as such, implementation would redirect the interest of imported goods to locally made products an implication of which is the reduction of demands for dollars and a boost to the economy.

Similarly, Plenary recorded a resounding call to Members States that are indebted to the Community to endeavor to pay up their arrears. The call was renewed as the Country Report from Guinea noted that the country is highly indebted to ECOWAS to the tone of USD $ 3,698,000. Guinea mentioned that the difficulty in being up to date with the payment of the Community levy was as a result of the Policy of the Single Treasury introduced by the Guinean government which sees all funds collected by the Customs administration remitted to the Single Treasury instead of the ECOWAS account domiciled at the Central Bank for the purpose of payment of the Community levy.

Liberia in its Country Report stated that it is in full compliance of the Community Levy Protocol as of August 2016. Likewise, the group of Parliamentarians from Togo stated that the Member State is currently in the process of remitting the proceeds of the Community levy to ECOWAS.

In conclusion, Members of Parliament charged each other on the need for advocacy on the compliance with the Community Levy Protocol in their various Member State.