An Original Examination of Regional Economic Community Law and Nigerian Sovereignty: ECOWAS Supranationalism and the Constitutional Order

The Economic Community of West African States has progressively developed supranational legal norms through the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and sector-specific regulatory frameworks that impose obligations on member states including Nigeria. The theoretical relationship between ECOWAS supranational law and Nigeria's constitutional order, particularly the question of whether ECOWAS law has direct effect in Nigerian courts and takes supremacy over conflicting domestic legislation, has not been theoretically developed in the Nigerian public law literature. This study develops an original theory of ECOWAS supranationalism and its relationship to Nigerian constitutional sovereignty, examining the doctrinal foundations for ECOWAS law's domestic effect, the adequacy of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution for addressing supranational legal obligations, and the jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in cases involving Nigeria. The methodology combines a doctrinal analysis of ECOWAS treaties, protocols, and the ECOWAS Court's jurisprudence from 2001 to 2023, with comparative theoretical analysis of European Union law's supremacy doctrine in EU member states and the East African Court of Justice's relationship to national constitutions. The EU Supremacy Doctrine, International Constitutional Pluralism Theory, and Regional Integration Constitutionalism provide the theoretical reference. The study's original contribution is a Supranational Legal Integration Theory for West African Regional Law. Findings support recommendations for ECOWAS law domestication frameworks and judicial training. Keywords: ECOWAS, supranationalism, regional law, constitutional sovereignty, Nigeria.