…As British High Commissioner visits Speaker, seeks better Nigeria-UK ties
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, PhD, has said the 10th House is ready for more partnerships with the United Kingdom and other democratic countries across the world.
Speaker Abbas has also congratulated the Great Britain on the successful coronation of King Charles III.
The Speaker extended the courtesy when receiving a delegation from the British High Commission to Nigeria led by the High Commissioner, Dr Richard Montgomery, on a courtesy call at his office at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja on Thursday.
Also at the meeting were the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims; Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda; Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki; Minority Whip, Hon. Ali Isa, among other members of the House.
The Speaker noted that he was “particularly very delighted” to receive the British envoy, stressing that it was the “second Foreign Mission to visit us since our inauguration.”
Speaker Abbas added: “I want to use this opportunity to congratulate you and the people of the United Kingdom over the successful coronation of King Charles. It was an unprecedented activity which attracted a lot of attention all over the world. As you know, Nigeria is one of the former colonies of the United Kingdom. We follow keenly what is happening there, particularly as regards to culture and politics. Congratulations!”
According to the Speaker, Nigeria and the UK have come a long way. He said, the relationship between the two countries “has predated modern civilisation because we have been around and relating for over 200 years.”
The Speaker thanked the British Government for all the technical assistance given to Nigeria “and we are urging you in this 10th Assembly to do much more.”
Speaker Abbas further said: “In the 10th Assembly we want to sustain the gains of the 9th Assembly. In the 9th Assembly, we have recorded phenomenal achievements in so many facets. So, we want to see how we can be able to consolidate and improve; and that is the reason why, during my inaugural speech, I made mention that we were going to improve on our Legislative Agenda.
“The Agenda is going to be our guide for the next four years, and we are right now in the middle of it. It is something that is going to be probably the best that has ever come out of the National Assembly. We urge the British Government, PLAC and all other needed partners to come and give us advice on what they think we should do to move this great country to a higher level.”
The Speaker disclosed that part of the innovations and creativities of the 10th House was to “for the very first time” create ‘friendship committees’ indentifying the key democracies in the world and relating to them on bilateral and multilateral bases.
“We believe such kinds of collaboration or one-on-one between the Nigerian Parliament and other parliaments will go a long way in correcting our mistakes, giving more ideas on what to do to improve our legislatures and so on. So, the UK or the Britain is one of those countries that we have identified,” Speaker Abbas noted.
Earlier in his remarks, Montgomery noted that the UK values its relationship with Nigeria, while asking to know how his country could strengthen its relationship with Nigeria.
The British High Commissioner said: “I want to say that on behalf of my team that we deeply value the relationship that we have with the National Assembly and I believe that over many decades we have had a very productive relationship. The United Kingdom sees Nigeria as an increasingly important partner.
