The Parliament of Ghana has expressed interest in partnering with the National Assembly of Nigeria to enhance the capacity and legislative skills of its members.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the partnership will be achieved through training and knowledge exchange at the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
A delegation of Ghanaian MPs led by James Aganga made this known during a benchmarking visit to the National Assembly in Abuja.
Speaking at Tuesday's plenary, Aganga explained that the visit was focused on understanding Nigeria's legislative security architecture and the operations of its committees on security.
He appreciated the warm welcome given to his team by the leadership of the National Assembly and described it as a reflection of the strong relations between the two countries.
The Ghanaian MP said the visit had provided valuable insights into Nigeria's parliamentary processes, committee system and legislative support structures.
He said the team met with the Clerk of the National Assembly, who briefed them on the structure of the legislature and the administrative processes that support law-making and oversight.
Aganga said the delegation also met the Clerk of the House of Representatives, who explained in detail the internal workings of the Green Chamber.
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However, he said the delegation's visit to NILDS was particularly inspiring, describing the institution as 'a model for parliamentary development in Africa'.
“Our mission here is a benchmarking visit to the National Assembly to understand Nigeria’s security architecture and acquaint ourselves with the functioning of the committees on security.
“More importantly, we paid a courtesy visit to the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) and that visit was very enlightening for us.
“Nigeria has taken a lead by establishing an institution of that kind, designed to build the capacity of members of the legislatures.
“This, for us, is an innovation and on our return, we will take up the issue with our Speaker on how we can cooperate for the training of our Members of Parliament.
“We hope that by such bilateral arrangement between our Parliament and the National Assembly of Nigeria, the capacity of our members can be enhanced to enable us to more effectively discharge our mandate as representatives of the people.
He said, “We bring you the best wishes from the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana and the leadership. We thank you for the opportunity given. We are truly grateful.”
Responding, Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Abbas Tajudeen thanked the MPs for the visit and kind words.
“We wish you a pleasant stay in Nigeria and a safe journey back to Ghana,” he said.
