Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives has called for the support of the United Kingdom’s Parliament in the areas of insecurity, parliamentary diplomacy, political and economic prosperity in Nigeria.
Gbajabiamila said Nigeria remains a key player in global affairs and that its Parliament plays an important role in addressing issues through legislation.
He spoke during a visit to the Speaker of the UK’s House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, in Westminster on Tuesday, saying the Nigerian House had used Parliamentary diplomacy at different times and it worked.
Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker in a statement quoted his principal as saying: “We intend to work in close collaboration with your Parliament,” Gbajabiamila noted, adding that Nigeria and the UK have “a rich history between them.We try to use Parliamentary diplomacy to achieve certain things.”
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He said the House had at different occasions intervened on the issue of xenophobia in South Africa, the dispute involving Nigerian traders in Ghana and also ensured the evacuation of Nigerian students from Ukraine recently.
“In a nutshell, it’s a noble idea that we come around to seek your collaboration. We know you’ll buy into this and support us for the Parliament to take its rightful place”, he said.
Gbajabiamila noted that the issue of security is very important as Nigeria is currently grappling with insecurity challenges, saying whatever happened to Nigeria “has a ricochet effect on other countries.”
He also stated that Nigeria’s general elections would come up next year and that the National Assembly did its part by giving the country “a near-perfect electoral law,” adding that: “It’s in our best interest to work together for economic and other reasons.”
The Speaker sought to know the rationale behind deporting refugees to Rwanda, saying, “it’s noble, but it will be nice to know the intricacies and how it affect Nigeria and the African continent.”
Speaking, Hoyle lauded the idea of legislative diplomacy, saying he was also disposed to soft diplomacy, which he said Parliaments across the world should consider as a different approach.
He said Nigeria is a crucial country to have such diplomatic ties with and promised to help where necessary to speak with the officials of the British government as regard some of the issues discussed.
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