Ghanaian parliament seeks Nigeria’s inputs on effective legislation, governance

The top echelon of the Ghanaian Parliament on Wednesday met with the leadership of the National Institute for Democratic and Legislative Studies (NIDLS) and officials of the National Assembly Service Commission in Abuja, to get inputs for effective legislation and governance in Ghana.

Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, led the delegation comprising the Clerk to the Parliament of Ghana, Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Secretary to the Ghanaian Parliamentary Service Board and a Deputy Director in the Clerk’s Office among others.

Speaking during the visit, Bagbin said the engagement was “to listen and learn from how your (Nigerian) systems, mehanisms assist in providing effective governance. At the end of the day, what we learn from you will help us to improve some things in our country Ghana. If we work together, we will be able to surmount the challenges that we have.”

Addressing the delegation, the NILDS Director-General and former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Sulaiman Abubakar, said key to the survival of democracy in any clime is the legislature.

Prof. Abubakar said, “It is my hope that this interaction will be an opportunity for the two countries to strengthen their ties in the area of legislative and democratic development.

“I believe the relegation will have a lot to learn from Nigeria considering the similarities in the antecedents of Nigeria and Ghana history spanning from the colonial period, to independence, to military interventions and now to stable democracies in both countries.

“Everything must be done to protect the sanctity of the legislature. They must be allowed to learn on the job. There is no perfection in any system. We must nurture the institution of the legislature.”