Former President of West African Bar
Association (WABA), Mr. Femi Falana at the weekend asked the ECOWAS
Commission to reject the application of Morocco to become a statutory
member of the regional institution.
Falana, a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), disclosed that by virtue of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of
1993, ECOWAS was set up purely “to promote co-operation and integration,
leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa.”
He
canvassed these positions in a letter he addressed to the President of
ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Marcel de Souza on Friday, pointing out that the
regional institution was established to raise the living standards of
its peoples, maintain economic stability and foster relations among the
member states.
The authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and
Government had in principle approved the request of the Kingdom of
Morocco to join the regional institution at its 55th Ordinary Session
held in Monrovia, Liberia in December 2016.
It, however, had
directed the ECOWAS Commission to examine the implications of Morocco’s
request within the ambit of the Revised Treaty of ECOWAS and submit its
report at the next session that would hold in Lome, Togo in December
2017.
In a five-page letter, Falana noted that the membership of
the ECOWAS “is restricted to the states in the West African sub-region
and in this regard, the Revised Treaty has defined the “region” as the
geographical zone known as West Africa in line with Resolution
CM/Res/.464/(XXVI) of the OAU Council of Ministers.”
Falana
argued that since Morocco “is not located in West Africa but in North
Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, it does not
satisfy the geographical criterion to be a member state of the ECOWAS.
“In
the circumstances, the admission of Morocco will automatically lead to a
change of the prerequisites for accession and a comprehensive review of
the Revised Treaty and other legal texts of the ECOWAS to reflect the
inclusion of the North African country in the economic union,” the
senior advocate said.
He cited Article 2(2) of the ECOWAS Revised
Treaty, stating that the member states “are the states that ratified
the treaty. Any West African state may apply to become a member of the
Community, which requires that the applicant be a State in West Africa
whose territory is located at least in part on the geographical space of
West Africa.
“This requirement can be deduced from the 1975
Treaty, which states that the Members of the Community, hereinafter
referred to as “Member States “ shall be the States that ratified the
Treaty and such other West African States as may accede to it.
“Morocco
is not qualified to accede to the ECOWAS Revised Treaty as it does not
satisfy the geographical criterion as “region” in this case means the
geographical zone known as West Africa. In the light of the foregoing,
it is indubitably clear that the ECOWAS does not stand to benefit
economically from the admission of Morocco as a member state of the
economic union.
“In addition, the request of Morocco to be a
member state of the ECOWAS is at variance with the provisions of the
Revised Treaty and the other legal texts of the ECOWAS.”
He,
therefore, urged the President of ECOWAS Commission to use his good
offices “to prevail on the Authority of Heads of State and Governments
of the ECOWAS to reject the illegal request of Morocco to join the
economic union. However, it should be pointed out that the rejection of
the request for membership is without prejudice to the observer status
of Morocco in the ECOWAS.”
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