President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has been nominated to be in the Preparatory Committee for the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
His nomination, along with three others, was contained in a statement by Jackson Udom, Special Assistant On Media to the president of the 10th Senate.
Udom stated that the nomination of was contained in a statement by the General Secretary of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) to the General Secretary of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), Mr Martin Chungong.
“Mr General Secretary, I am pleased to bring to your attention that after the virtual meeting of the Geo Political Group, held on March 7, 2024, the following members have been designated to be in the Preparatory Committee for the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament,” it was stated in the statement by Chungong.
Other members of the Committee included Madam Carolina Cerqueira, Speaker of the National Assembly of Angola; Mr Adams Bictogo, Speaker of the National Assembly of Coted’Ivoire and Mr Brahim Boughali, Speaker, National Popular Assembly of Algeria.
Senator Akpabio was at the last conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Luanda, Angola, elected into the Executive Committee of the international body.
Akpabio led Nigeria’s delegation to the IPU’s 147th General Assembly in October 2023, breaking a 59-year-old jinx by becoming the first Nigerian to be elected into the Committee since 1964.
The IPU, the international organisation of Parliaments (Article 1 of the Statutes of the Inter-Parliamentary Union), was established in 1889.
The IPU plays a key role in the development of generally accepted standards and guidelines relevant to democracy, elections and parliaments.
It strengthens representative institutions and, through its technical assistance programme, it provides advice, guidance and many forms of support to parliaments.
It offers assistance in a range of areas, from library services and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and committee structures and procedural rules.
The IPU works alongside parliaments to modernise and strengthen them and also ensures that the parliaments themselves are driving the process.
