Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticized African leaders within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), alleging that they have failed to uphold the rule of law by neglecting court judgments.
In a statement titled “End Disobedience of ECOWAS Courts,” Falana highlighted that as of December 2024, member states have failed to enforce a total of 154 judgments issued by the ECOWAS Court of Justice. He pointed out that Nigeria leads with the highest number of unimplemented judgments, totaling 44, followed by Togo with 27 and Guinea with 15.
Falana accused the leaders of treating decisions from the ECOWAS Court with disdain and called on member states to respect and enforce the rulings to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the rule of law and regional integration. He emphasized that the continued disregard for court judgments undermines the authority and credibility of ECOWAS institutions and hampers the continent’s democratic development.
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