From Fred Itua, Abuja
Poised to prepare the 10th Assembly members for capacity development, the Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, has led a delegation of 10 members, comprising the Institute’s researchers and National Assembly management staff, on a high-level study visit to the Austrian Parliament.
The Institute, which plays a critical role in strengthening legislative capacity across Nigeria’s democratic institutions, is expected to provide training, research, and other legislative services to the incoming Assembly, given the high turnover rate.
According to a statement made available to newsmen, the purpose of the study visit is to enable the delegation to establish contact and exchange experiences and lessons learned with Austrian parliamentarians.
“Additionally, the visit provided an opportunity for the team to identify essential strategies and tools that could be employed to strengthen Nigeria’s legislature.
“During a bilateral meeting with the Secretary General of the Austrian Parliament, Harald Dossi, Prof. Abubakar O Sulaiman proposed an exchange of experience between Nigerian Legislators and their Austrian counterparts in October this year.
“NILDS will collaborate with the Austrian Parliament in the area of research, access to electronic resources and linkages with similar research and policy think-tanks in Europe,” a statement quoting Sulaiman read
On his part, the Secretary-General, Harald Dossi welcomed the twinning agreement for staff and experts from the Institute and National Assembly and their counterparts from the Austrian Parliament. The focus areas will include budget analysis, legislative research and the use of ICT among others.
The delegation also met with the Deputy Secretary-General of the Parliament, members of Parliaments from both ruling and opposition parties as well as technocrats providing support services for the Parliament.
“As a result of the study visit, the Austrian Parliament intends to collaborate with the Nigerian National Assembly through the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies to build on the momentum gained during the visit with the potential to greatly enhance the capacity of legislators and other democratic institutions in Nigeria,” the statement read.