GodsWill Akpabio, Senate President, was elected to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Executive Committee on Friday.
The election of Akpabio comes 59 years after a Nigerian was voted to the body in 1964.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union, formed in 1889, is a global organization of national parliaments dedicated to advancing peace via parliamentary diplomacy and debate.
Over its 135-year history, it has evolved into a genuinely worldwide organization with 179 members from 179 countries.
The IPU fosters parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians around the world to promote peace, democracy, and sustainable development.
According to Anietie Ekong, the Senate President’s Special Assistant (Media/Communication), “Senator Akpabio was overwhelmingly voted for by delegates around the world to emerge as an Executive Committee member of the parliamentary union with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland for a three-year mandate.”
The 147th IPU Assembly was held from October 21 to October 27, 2023, in Luanda, Angola, and was hosted by the National Assembly of Angola.
According to the press release, “The union, in the week-long Assembly, deliberated upon important issues affecting nations across the world and considered actions to strengthen trust between people and governance structures, to make public institutions more effective, accountable, and representative, and to better equip parliaments to address the multiple interconnected geopolitical, economic, and environmental crises facing the world.”