Senate President seeks Britain’s assistance on capacity enhancement of lawmakers

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday sought the assistance of the British High Commission in Nigeria to help in capacity enhancement for the lawmakers.
Lawan, in a statement by Isa Mohammed, the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President of the Senate, made the call while receiving the High Commissioner, Catriona Laing, in his office.
He said: “Our committees, when we constitute them, we will need your support.
“We want some kind of support for capacity building through the Department for International Development which is the British Department responsible for administering overseas aid.
“So, we want to appeal to you that you consider that for our committees when they are constituted. We ask for support.
“The committees are the engine room of our legislature; we need support for the committees to perform well.”
The senate president said National Assembly believes that the economy must work for everybody, including the lowest in the society.
Lawan said: “The vulnerable, the most disadvantaged, youths who have graduated from universities and yet have no jobs. We must create employment opportunity for them.”
He told his guest that Nigeria, for long, had depended on oil, but now seeks to diversify the economy like other countries.
Earlier, Laing said her mission was to congratulate the senate president, whom she met in the build up to his election.
She said that British Government was ready to collaborate with the National Assembly with regards to some key bills like the Police Reforms Bill, Electoral Act Amendment Bill and Petroleum Industry Bill.