By David Okoh
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, has congratulated President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on his election into the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Senator Akpabio, who led the Nigerian delegation to the 147th IPU General Assembly in Luanda, Angola, was on Friday elected as a member of the Executive Committee, thereby breaking a 59-year-old jinx.
Nigeria was last represented in the Executive Committee of the IPU in 1964.
Speaker Abbas, while describing Senator Akpabio’s election as record-breaking, noted that the glory was not just for the Senate President but also the entire 10th National Assembly and Nigeria as a country.
The Speaker also said despite that Nigeria only returned to democracy in 1999, the National Assembly is taking the country to its rightful position in the comity of nations globally.
Speaker Abbas recalled how Nigeria, through the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, spearheaded the formation of the Conference of Speakers of African Parliaments (CoSAP).
The Speaker also recalled how the Nigerian Parliament introduced what is now known as legislative diplomacy, which has been successfully deployed to address inter-country disputes.
“I strongly believe that my colleague and brother, the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, will deploy his wealth of experience in both the Executive and Legislative arms of the Nigerian Government to add immense value to the leadership of the IPU,” the Speaker said.
The IPU, which now has 179 member nations, is the global organisation of national parliaments founded in 1889, and dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue.
The IPU also facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
