Major international development organisations in Nigeria have expressed their readiness to partner the 9th House of Representatives in the implementation of its revised Legislative Agenda.
This is as the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, reiterated the commitment of the House to be people-centred in the process of law-making.
These emerged on Monday during a roundtable with heads of international development agencies, where he stressed that the interest of Nigerians remained uppermost in any piece of legislation the House would pass.
Some of the international development agencies at the roundtable included the World Bank; Delegation of European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Others were Mercy Corps, GIZ Nigeria, National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL)-Engage Citizens Pillar (ECP) and the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP).
In his opening remarks, Gbajabiamila explained the drive behind the need for the involvement of the Nigerian people in every piece of law from the House, saying, “When I became Speaker in June last year, I committed to broad reforms of government and governance infrastructure in Nigeria.
“I believed then, and I still believe that until we fix the way we run the government in Nigeria, we will always be limited in our ability to meet our people’s expectations regardless of our best interests.”
According to him, the House was proactive by reviewing the Legislative Agenda due to the outbreak and effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
In his reaction, World Bank’s Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, who noted that the document was timely, considering the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, expressed the readiness of the bank to work with the House on the implementation of the priority areas.
On his part, Head of Section, Delegation of EU to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Clement Boutilier, also noted that the document was a welcomed development, clear and well-driven.
Boutilier noted that the document’s priority areas in agriculture, security and security reform were in concert with the programmes of the EU, especially with the new EU’s approach on how to mobilise and facilitate private investment in Nigeria.
