Chief Registrar of the ECOWAS Court, Tony Anene-Maidoh, has said that 179 cases were pending before the court, 54 of them against Nigeria.
Speaking at the end of the court’s week-long sensitisation campaign in Kwara State, the registrar noted that 583 cases had been lodged before the court since its inception in 2001, recording 434 rulings and six advisory opinions.
The delegation of the court led by the Vice President, Justice Gberi-Be Ouattara, included Justices Dupe Atoki, Keikura Bangura and Januaria Costa, as well as the Deputy Chief Registrar, the Director (Administration and Finance) and other key staff.
During a press briefing to wrap up the campaign, Justice Atoki explained that the programme was held to create awareness on the court’s existence and operations.
According to her, various fora addressed the specific needs of the various stakeholders, including lawyers, women, students and lecturers. Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, declared the campaign open on February 22, 2022.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Kayode Alabi, commended the initiative of the court to increase its visibility within West Africa, which will impact immensely in the promotion of the rule of law essential to achieving “regional political and economic ties of the 15 member states of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to him, Kwara has commenced infrastructural development along its boundary with ECOWAS member state, Republic of Benin, “to support trade and strengthen regional ties” as the one market and free trade initiative continues to gain grounds in the sub-region and across Africa.
In his presentation, President of the Court, Justice Edward Asante, said that being an international court, ECOWAS Court applies to only international laws to which member states are parties.
“Even in human rights violations, a concurrent jurisdiction it shares with national courts, it only entertains those brought against an ECOWAS member state,” he added.
In the presentation, which was delivered by Justice Atoki, the President said “the court lacks the powers to make declarations on judgments of national courts, except for referrals from the national courts of member states on the interpretation of ECOWAS texts.
