Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has tasked the United Kingdom Parliament to continue to support the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.
Hon. Kalu made the call while interacting with Members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association led by Hon. Kate Osamor who hosted him to a meeting at Westminster, the United Kingdom Parliament as part of his itinerary during his working trip to the United Kingdom to foster UK-Nigeria Parliamentary Strategic Dialogue.
Kalu had earlier met with the Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Minister for Africa, Lord Collins of Highbury at the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office in London.
Issues discussed in the course of the meeting with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association included Kalu’s ongoing work as Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria especially his work to introduce Legislation to ensure Special Seats for women in Parliament in Nigeria. Other issues discussed by the parties include Security, UK-Nigeria Trade Relations and other issues of mutual interest between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
Expanding on the Bills before the Nigerian Parliament to guarantee special seats for women, Kalu noted that it was intended to address the low representation of women in politics in Nigeria and called on the United Kingdom to support ongoing work on the proposal.
On Security, Kalu commended the United Kingdom for their ongoing support to the Nigerian Armed Forces which has led to the training of over 30,000 Nigerian soldiers on global best practices in security.
On Trade, Kalu called for the ramping up of Trade between Nigeria and the United Kingdom noting that statistics showed that other countries like China and France were ramping up their trade relations with Nigeria and urged the United Kingdom to close the gap as Nigeria’s historical allies.
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives also talked about the work he is doing through the Peace in the South East Project to ensure more non-kinetic approaches to peace-building in Nigeria urging the United Kingdom Government to support the initiative.
He used the opportunity to throw light on some of the policies of the President Tinubu administration especially in economic reforms including the removal of fuel subsidy, the intervention in the foreign exchange market, new regional development commissions, tax reforms, student loan, credit scheme and efforts to diversify the Nigerian economy from dependence on fossil fuels while highlighting the global concerns regarding climate change as it affects Nigeria.
While welcoming Kalu to Westminster, Member of the United Kingdom Parliament, Kate Osamor traced her roots to Nigeria and assured that the United Kingdom remained a strategic partner to Nigeria on a number of fronts.
Ms Osamor commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the establishment of the South East Development Commission noting that her familiarity with the post-civil war challenges of Nigeria gives her the confidence that the Commission was a great catalyst towards fostering greater integration in the South East region.
Member of Parliament Osamor informed the Deputy Speaker that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association would be visiting Nigeria in March, 2025 and looked forward to fruitful discussions with various stakeholders during the visit.
Other Members of Parliament that accompanied MP Kate Osamor to receive the Deputy Speaker and his delegation included Rt. Hon. David Mundell, MP, House of Commons,
Dr. Beccy Cooper, MP, House of Commons and Lord Oates, Member, House of Lords
Members of the Deputy Speaker’s delegation to the UK-Nigeria Parliamentary Strategic Dialogue included Hon. Chris Nkwonta, Hon. Ginger Onwusibe and Hon. Ibe Okwara.
The meeting ended with exchange of gifts by the two delegations .
