VOICE YOUR VOTE Nigeria

 At about 12noon, 13th of August 2026, while the Hon. Minister was leaving to work, he spotted a shanti kiosk (eatery) close the his house(rental apartment) and he ordered his men to destroy Shanti kiosk immediately. 

Britishw national  Vishwash Kumar Ramesh  miraculously survived the Air India plane crash that killed over  200 people. It was gathered by our source that  Ramesh’s boarding pass indicates that he was seated on the iseat 11A of the flight, which is the emergency exit row,    

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Rt. Hon. Memounatou Ibrahima and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar   The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Rt. Hon. Memounatou Ibrahima, paid a visit to the Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar in Abuja on Friday 30th May 2025, their conversation centered on how the West African region can exercise control over the smooth implementation of the Abidjan –Lagos corridor, which aims to boost economic activities across five cities in the region, and Pursue a joint partnership with the Nigerian government to advance the project. The Minister Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar while speaking to the Press, highlighted the vital role of the ECOWAS Parliament in driving regional integration and development. "As the democratic voice of the people, the ECOWAS Parliament is central to our region's economic transformation," he said. "The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor is not just a road-it's a cat...

Presented at the First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament, in Abuja On Saturday 24th May 2025 the 5th day of Plenary seatings of the First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament held in Abuja, Nigeria. Country reports were presented by Hon. Abiante Awaji-Inombek, Hon. Veronica K. Sesay and Hon. Alhagie S. Darbo for Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia respectively. These reports highlighted key developments in political governance, security, human rights, health, socio-economic conditions, and progress toward the implementation of ECOWAS protocols and convergence criteria. Nigeria Hon. Abiante emphasized that Nigeria continues to make steady progress in promoting good governance and upholding the rule of law. He said that the country’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and inclusive development was underscored. He reiterated Nigeria’s firm belief in regional solidarity as a pillar of strength, affirming the nation’s readiness to work hand-in...

ECOWAS Marks Milestone year as Parliament Tackles Breakaway States and Future Vision The First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament for 2025 opened in Abuja on Tuesday 20th May, with a warm call for unity, reflection, and decisive action as the region faces significant geopolitical shifts and prepares to mark its 50th anniversary.   Speaking at the opening ceremony, the president of the ECOWAS Commission H.E. DR. Omar Alieu Touray Gave a warm welcome to the delegates from member states, expressing gratitude to Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the government, and the people of Nigeria for their hospitality and support in hosting the 1st Ordinary session.  The address highlighted two pivotal developments shaping the regional bloc’s agenda: the formal withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from ECOWAS, and the upcoming celebration of ECOWAS’ Golden Jubilee. In response to the Sahel trio’s exit, ECOWAS has developed a holistic negotiation strategy, ...

His Excellence Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas,the head of the ECOWAS Observation Mission to Sierra Leone "Atmosphere of the polling stations was generally peaceful with security agents present in 92% of the polling stations where we visited". He also said that 37% of the polling stations observed, commenced it's operation within the first hour, while 63% of cases of polling started with considerable delays due to the late arrival of ECSL staff and polling materials. He made this known in a statement on Monday 26 June, 2023, at a joint press conference organized by ECOWAS, AU and Commonwealth Observation Missions to Sierra Leone held at Bintumani hotel, Freetown. The Articles 12 and 13 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance mandates the ECOWAS Commission to provide assistance to member states conducting elections . . . . He explained based on the above mentioned articles(12 and 13) that Commission provided capacity building for stakeholders o...

June 1, 2023 was a very dark day for my country and for all Senegalese. I would say even more, all over the world, all the friends of our country are certainly unhappy to see terrible images reaching them. I can assure you that I am deeply hurt by what happened on June 1, 2023. However, it is not because I am gripped by these tragedies, this incredible violence, these deaths that I do not wonder why. and does not reflect on what to do so that serenity regains the upper hand over hatred, violence, horrors, the lack of lucidity, and the obtuse blindness of all of us Our country was not built without violence or without violent conflict. Democracy was established through protests and street fights. Even in the party that is mine, the PS, nothing has always been done without deep dissension and sometimes violence. This is why I would like to speak to my fellow citizens as a member of the PS, elected from my region, and above all a deputy and therefore a legislator to say first of all ...

written By VYVG correspondent   ECOWAS Parliament held its 2023 First Ordinary Session in Abuja on 8th May, 2023. During the Session, it is expected that the Community Reports of the sub-region will be presented by the President of the ECOWAS Commission H.E. Dr Omar Alieu Touray while the Country Reports will be presented by the fifteen member Countries of the subregion in the Plenary. Guinea, Mali, and Burkina Faso are on Suspension from the activities of ECOWAS due to the unaccepted transition of power in those countries. Ten out of the twelve remaining member countries presented their reports, while Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone could not present their report during the 2023 First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament; All efforts made by our team to ascertain why the two countries were not able to present their country reports were futile, bearing in mind that Sierra Leone is the Home Country of the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament. The Country Report consists of...

The Chairman, Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS , Parliament Committee on Macroeconomics and Economic Policy Research, Honourable Kebba Barrow, says, free movement of people and goods within member states will improve economic status of ordinary citizen of the ECOWAS community and the community as a whole. Honourable Barrow who stated this while answering questions from Journalists at the just concluded delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament in Lome, Togo, he said that free movement of people aids the volume of businesses being done across the border in all member countries.  He stated that this will help boost the economic capacity of an ordinary peope in the sub region. "So, the protocol on free Movement of people and goods is a very important protocol for us as Parliamentarians, because, that is where activities of an ordinary citizen are taking place. We need to consolidate that and put it at the right perspective to ensure that all member countries are t...

By Raphael O Duru In Lome, Nov 19, 2020 (VYVN) Sen. Biodun Olujimi has called on the Federal Government to utilize the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to fund Information Communication Technology (ICT) needed to run the education sector amid COVID-19 disruptions. In an interview with the Voice Your Vote Nigeria (VYVN) on Thursday in Lome, Hon Olujimi called on other ECOWAS member states to also push for the utilization of the fund in their respective countries. The lawmaker who is part of the Joint Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament converging on Togo to chart a course for effecting distance learning in West Africa, said that the region already had a funding source that could be utilized. The USPF was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria. The Fund is be...

SHARE TWEET The novel coronavirus pandemic is the largest global health crisis recorded in the past decades, and China was the first country to feel the dealy impact of this virus called  COVID-19. Over 1.4 billion people life were put under threat by the virus,Wuhan was locked down, the epicenter of the corona virus outbreak in the China. But how did the virus spread throughout the city? And what led to the unprecedented lockdown? CGTN launches “The Frontline: China’s Fight Against COVID-19”, a 90-minute-long two-part documentary. In part one, the initial outbreak and the following two months are explored, and how a city of 11 million came to a standstill.

The 44th Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council at the Ministerial level was held today, 4th September 2020 in Niamey, the Republic of Niger. The purpose of the meeting was to review the political and security situation in the region, with particular emphasis on the political processes in the Gambia and Guinea Bissau.  The meeting, which was presided over by H.E. Kalla Ankourao, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Repiblic of Niger and Chair of the Mediation and Security Council at the Ministerial level was attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs or Security from across ECOWAS Member States. Also in attendance at the meeting were the Honorable Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, H. E. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, H. E Muhamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and H. E. Abdullah Bureima, President of the UEMOA Commission.  In his opening remarks, the President of the ECOWAS...

NIGERIA WARNS GHANA, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH PRESS RELEASE FROM MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, ABUJA Nigeria Will No Longer Tolerate Harassment of Its Citizens in Ghana - FG The Nigerian Government is deeply concerned by the incessant harassment of its citizens in Ghana and the progressive acts of hostility towards the country by Ghanaian authorities, and will no longer tolerate such. In this regard, the Federal Government is urgently considering a number of options aimed at ameliorating the situation. The Federal Government has been documenting the acts of hostility towards Nigeria and Nigerians by the Ghanaian authorities. These include: - Seizure of the Nigerian Mission's property located at No. 10, Barnes Road, Accra, which the Nigerian Government has used as diplomatic premises for almost 50 years. This action is a serious breach of the Vienna Convention. - Demolition of the Nigerian Mission's property located at No. 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street, East Ridge, Accra, another s...

  US-trained Mali coup leaders want 3-year military rule By AFP/AP/Foreign Policy The overthrow, swiftly condemned by the U.S. government, could pose a setback in the regional fight against extremist groups. The United States has halted all security assistance training and support for Malian military forces that carried out a coup in the West African country after new details emerged that the coup was orchestrated in part by military officers who received training from the U.S. military. Col. Assimi Goita, a Malian military officer who declared himself provisional leader of the country, participated in U.S.-led military exercises and training aimed to counter extremist groups operating in the Sahel region. “It’s clear that several participants in the mutiny … have received U.S. training or assistance,” said J. Peter Pham, the State Department’s special envoy for the Sahel region of West Africa, on Friday. He stressed that the United States condemned the actions by the military offi...

BY Virginia Oruma The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is developing modalities to harmonize academic degrees, curriculum and equivalence in West Africa due to the growing internalization of education and culture in the region. This formed part of discussions at the Joint Committee meeting of the Committee on Education, Science and Culture and the Committee on Communication and ICT of the ECOWAS Parliament held virtually(Zoom). Addressing Parliamentarians, Mrs. Rachel Ogbe, Principal Programme Officer on Education of the ECOWAS Commission, speaking on behalf of the ECOWAS Commissioner on Education, Science and Culture, stated that ECOWAS seeks to achieve a number of specific objectives, the first being to develop regional criteria for the harmonization of pre-university qualifications, in particular the period of study, content of curricula, qualification assessment and other prerequisites for the establishment of equivalence of Member States’ accreditation syste...

A virtual meeting of the ECOWAS coordinating committee of Ministers for transport, logistics, free movement and trade, set up within the framework of the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) held on the 12th of June 2020.  Among others, the Ministers deliberated on the harmonisation of measures to facilitate the opening of trade and transport corridors for equipment, medical supplies and humanitarian personnel involved in the fight against COVID-19, the flow of essential goods and associated workers; as well as modalities for the implementation of the emerging Action.  Setting the tone for the meeting, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E Jean-Claude Kassi Brou maintained that the occurrence of the COVID 19 pandemic has forced ECOWAS Member States to put in place drastic barrier measures (physical distancing, quarantine, closure of schools, shops and places of worship as well as the total or partial ban on public transport in urban areas).  This situation, he h...

A group of Concerned Nigerians have kicked against Nigerian Prison Service asking its new recruits to converge for a training under the increasing number of Covid-19 patients in the country. It wondered how would the government closed schools and higher institution of learning and yet ordering new recruits of over 50persons to gerder for training in Lagos.  The group member , Ikechukwu Iheanacho said ,"Government is yet to reopen Schools and other institutions due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The N.Y.S.C. Camps are closed. Government is also advising against Crowding of people. But we're hearing that newly recruited staff of the Nigerian Correctional service who were sent home from training camps since the outbreak are being asked to return to camp immediately. What does this portend especially now that the virulence of this disease is high with cases in Lagos quadrupling by the day? What measures have been put in place for the safety of the recruits and their handlers right...

The Committee of Experts set up by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for Transport, Logistics, Free Movement and Trade in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, held a virtual meeting on the 8th of June 2020 to firm up guidelines for the harmonization and facilitation of Cross Border Trade and Transportation in the region.  The experts are providing sectorial technical advice to the statutory decision-making bodies of ECOWAS to ensure uniform and coordinated improvement of the transport and logistics sectors while enhancing the growth of intra-regional trade, free movement and economic growth in the ECOWAS region. Addressing participants, the ECOWAS Commission’s Commissioner for Infrastructure Mr. Pathe Gueye said besides the coordination and strengthening of the fight against the Covid-19, the meeting is meant to help the region to navigate itself out of the difficult situation where it now finds itself.  Chair of the meeting and representative of Niger...

In a dark, windy night, a gang of extremely vicious terrorists launched a sudden assault on a village. The household which was attacked first was quickly filled with gunfire and flames, and burst into flames.   As the family struggled to survive, another family in the village not only stood by and let the situation get worse, but made sarcastic remarks on the misfortune, saying that “this family must had irritated the terrorists, and thus incurred the revenge now.”   To its surprise, the family that was brutally assaulted fought back against the attackers desperately and wouldn’t flinch in the face of life-threatening danger.   After battling with the family for a long time, the terrorists got frustrated and realized that they had unwisely started the war by attacking a tough family that won’t yield. Then the Mob decided to shift their focus somewhere else.         Surprisingly, the family that mocked the victims became the ne...