Abbas Seeks More Nigerian, German Parliament Collaboration

• The Speaker of the Nigerian National Assembly, Abbas Tajudeen, has called for more collaborations and engagements between the Nigerian National Assembly and the German Parliament
• Abbas also urged Germany to follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom (UK) in advancing and sustaining democracy in Nigeria
• The German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annett Günther, visited the Speaker to “lay a new foundation” for the partnership between Germany and Nigeria

Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has called for more collaborations and engagements between the Nigerian National Assembly and the German Parliament, also known as “The Bundestag.”

Abbas also urged Germany to follow in the United Kingdom’s (UK) footsteps in advancing and sustaining democracy in Nigeria.

He made the call yesterday in Abuja when the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annett Günther, paid him a visit.

Günther was accompanied on the visit by the head of political affairs, Matthias Dold, and the political officer, Uduak-Abasi Akpabio.

Abbas said;

I want to appreciate the long-standing and historical relationship between Nigeria and Germany, which spans more than 60 years. To the best of my knowledge, it has been a mutually beneficial relationship. Both the German and Nigerian governments have benefitted immensely from the relationship. I am proud to say that in Africa today, we are one of the major partners of Germany in diplomatic relations.

We believe this can be further exploited in the future, and there are so many other areas that we can look into, to deepen our relationship with you. In due course, we will highlight some of those areas of economic advantage to both Germany and Nigeria.”

We want to see more and increased collaboration in the area of cultural ties between Germany and Nigeria. I know we are doing fairly well in that respect, but there are so many areas that we are yet to touch.

One area of major concern to us is further collaboration in what we do here, that is legislative collaboration between the parliaments of Germany and Nigeria. We want to see in the next coming years, particularly under this administration, how we can further strengthen collaboration and relationship between the parliaments of Germany and Nigeria, Abbas said.

The Speaker emphasized the possibility of strengthening Nigeria’s legislative relationship with Germany “in the same way that the United Kingdom has been offering us technical assistance.”

In her remarks, Ambassador Günther stated that the visit was to “lay a new foundation” for the partnership between Germany and Nigeria, especially given the West African country’s recent change of government.

The ambassador also stated that the two countries’ relationship dates back to the early days of Nigeria’s independence, emphasizing that “there is a lot of economic cooperation” between them.

Günther stated that, in addition to bilateral relations, Germany has provided humanitarian assistance to Nigeria, particularly in relation to the country’s security crises in the northeast and northwest.