ECOWAS: Accolades as Oduah bows out as ECOFEPA President
Senator Stella Oduah (Nigeria) has been commended by ECOWAS Parliamentarians for a job well done as the President of the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA).
This is even as Hon. Filomena Vieira Martins (Cape Verde) was unanimously elected as president along with other members of the Bureau, to take over from Oduah whose term lapsed in May.
Other members of the Bureau elected include Hon. Kaboule Reine Bertille Sakande Benao (Burkina Faso) 1st Vice President and Hon. Biodun Olujimi (Nigeria) as 2nd Vice President.
Hon. Guiro Oulimata (Senegal) was appointed to serve as Secretary General while Hon. Fatoumatta Njai was elected as the Association’s Treasurer.
The new Bureau was unanimously elected following their proposal by the Stella Oduah-led out-gone executives at a meeting held at the Seat of Parliament in Abuja.
The election followed the presentation and review of the activities of ECOFEPA in the last two years, while Hon. Stella Oduah, a Senator in Nigeria, presided over the association.
Presenting the report, they noted that the Association spent thousands of Dollars on Humanitarian service in the sub-region and visited victims of insurgency in North East Nigeria in 2017 where the President, Oduah donated N850,000 while ECOFEPA donated clothes worth $1,600.
Reacting to the assessment report on the tenure of the Oduah-led Bureau of ECOFEPA, members of parliament did not mince words in commending the out goint executive.
They particularly commended the President for her selfless service, using her personal funds to handle many of the activities of the Association.
Hon. Njai Fatoumatta (The Gambia) while commending the leadership, urged the incoming executive that there were more jobs to be done especially in the area of advancing the course of women in politics.
Hon. Niamali Fatimata Fomba (Mali) particularly commended outgoing President Stella Oduah for her dedication to the association.
She noted how the President always boosted the visibility of the association by sponsoring media events.
Fomba stressed that even after losing her son, Oduah still persevered and didn’t forsake the association.
For Hon. Moreita Moniz Martina (Guinea Bissau) said: “I would like to congratulate the bureau for this report because here there are many activities that were carried out, I was not even aware that ECOFEPA had done so much and therefore the Bureau deserves commendation”.
For Hon. Oulimata Guiro (Senegal), she described the activities carried out by ECOFEPA as noble while Hon. SESAY K. Veronica (Sierra leone), while commending ECOFEPA, urged the organization to extend its humanitarian visit to Sierra Leone.
She appealed that the nation had suffered a lot, stressing that after suffering from Ebola, the country also experienced mud slide.
She urged ECOFEPA to also look into the problem of teenage pregnancy and early marriage that we must take into cognizance.
Hon. Adama Sylla (Senegal) said that the activities of ECOFEPA was acknowledged during her campaign to be a member of the Senegalese Parliarment, urging the new members to do a good job.
The newly elected executive will be inaugurated December 10.
