Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has advised the incoming 10th National Assembly members to take national interest as topmost priority when taking decisions. He said this when he received outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing in his office in Abuja.
“Any approach to the contrary will thwart every attempt by the incoming parliament to achieve stability in governance and maintain a harmonious relationship with the executive for the benefit of the Nigerian people.
“I must take this opportunity to commend the members of the 9th National Assembly – the Senate and House of Representatives for doing a lot of work and coming up with legislative interventions that have made so many segments of our lives better.
“We still have a lot of challenges like you mentioned, but I think the stability we have enjoyed in the National Assembly and the stability in the relationship between the National Assembly and the Executive arm of government has helped in making us better than previously.
“I believe that going forward, the 10th National Assembly can define how it wants to go, but I believe that there is always a need for stability within the parliament itself; that is to say that there must be a bipartisan approach to issues; that the national interest should define where and when to do what.”
Senate President Lawan also said that the relationship between the National Assembly and the Executive should be based on national interest, and commended the outgoing ambassador for her efforts toward the passage of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“That does not stop disagreements, there should be disagreements in the interest of the people, not any other sentiments or interests,” Mr Lawan said.
Speaking earlier, Ms Laing described Nigeria’s politics as fascinating. While expressing her joy over her stay in the country, the outgoing ambassador said that she made very good friends during her stay in Nigeria.
She said: “I love Nigerian music a lot, and the culture here is so rich. Secondly, the politics in Nigeria is so fascinating. Nigeria is the biggest democracy in Africa.
“The world watches your progress to democracy. There were some disappointments in the last general election but overall every Nigerian should be proud because since 1999 Nigeria has been united.
“The election here is very different. The country is moving to a three-party system, maybe even four. I think Nigerians as well should realise that their votes count,” she said.
Ms Laing added: ” I was here in the last election and I finished with the 2023 election and I’m impressed with Nigeria’s democratic journey.
“Although a bit set backs, but over all, I see this as positive and Nigeria should be proud but with a remarkable difference when I came in 2019.
“There have been some tough times. We had COVID-19 and insecurity has got lot more since I was here.
“Nigerian people are incredibly resilient. I remain very optimistic about Nigeria’s future. So it’s been a very wonderful tour and I’m very sad to be going.”
