{"id":122451,"date":"2025-09-23T21:13:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=122451"},"modified":"2025-09-23T21:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:13:45","slug":"ecowas-parliament-urged-to-harness-ai-to-deepen-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/ecowas-parliament-urged-to-harness-ai-to-deepen-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"ECOWAS Parliament Urged to Harness AI to Deepen Democracy\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Lizzy Chirkpi<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been urged to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a transformative tool to boost legislative efficiency, deepen accountability, and strengthen democratic governance across the sub-region.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The call came on Monday at the opening of the Second Parliamentary Seminar of the 2025 Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The seminar is themed: \u201cHarnessing Artificial Intelligence for Parliamentary Efficiency, Ethical Governance and Development in the ECOWAS Region.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In her keynote address, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hajia Memounatou Ibrahima, described AI as a \u201cglobal competitive tool\u201d that lawmakers must strategically embrace. According to her, leveraging AI would enable the parliament to \u201ccreate stronger regulatory frameworks, improve communication with citizens, and promote social and economic development.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Jubrin Barau, stressed the importance of approaching AI adoption responsibly. \u201cAI is reshaping governance, economies, and societies worldwide,\u201d he said. \u201cFor legislators, it presents opportunities to enhance efficiency, strengthen accountability, and foster sustainable development.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, who was represented by his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu, urged parliamentarians to ensure that AI strengthens democratic governance rather than undermining it. He noted that Rivers State, as both Nigeria\u2019s energy hub and an emerging technology centre, offers useful lessons on \u201cbalancing innovation with traditional governance structures.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Also delivering a goodwill message, Permanent Secretary of Nigeria\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Dunoma, pointed out that AI\u2019s impact already cuts across vital sectors such as education, healthcare, commerce, and security. He emphasized that the real challenge for West Africa is not whether AI will reshape society, but \u201chow leaders and policymakers can guide its adoption to strengthen democracy, foster regional integration, and improve citizens\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Similarly, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, expressed confidence that the seminar would provide \u201cpragmatic strategies for harnessing AI to advance good governance in the region.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The three-day session is expected to produce actionable recommendations on how parliaments across West Africa can integrate AI into governance for inclusive and sustainable growth.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lizzy Chirkpi The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been urged to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a transformative tool to boost legislative efficiency, deepen accountability, and&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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