• Senate seeks deeper ties with Morocco
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, has announced new dates for the North West zonal public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution.
This is as the Senate also moved to deepen economic and legislative ties with Morocco.
Barau, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, disclosed during plenary that the hearing which was postponed due to the death of elder statesman Alhaji Aminu Dantata, will now hold on July 18 and 19, 2025, in Kano.
The public hearings had earlier held simultaneously across five of the six geopolitical zones on July 4 and 5, but the North West session was suspended in honour of Dantata, who passed away in Abu Dhabi on June 28 and was buried in Medina on June 30.
Announcing the new date, Barau urged all senators from the 21 senatorial districts in the North West to ensure robust participation and mobilise their constituents to contribute to the constitutional amendment process.
“All concerned Nigerians in the zone are encouraged to prepare and submit memoranda on specific areas of the Constitution they would like amended,” he said, stressing the importance of public input in reshaping the country’s foundational document.
Meanwhile Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has called for deepening of bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Morocco for the benefits of the people of the two countries. He made the call yesterday while receiving the Moroccan ambassador to Nigeria, Moha Ouali Tagma, who paid him a visit.
Akpabio, who described Morocco as a new destination for investment, said the North African country was becoming a great partner to Nigeria in the economic sector. He said Nigeria had a lot to learn from Morocco, which had become a place “all Nigerians want to do business with.”
He said the Nigerian parliament had already signed an agreement to form the Nigeria/Morocco Friendship Group to underscore the fact that Nigeria is “very deeply interested” in strengthening the bond that existed with Morocco.
“And I am happy to note that while we are hoping to invest in Morocco and also pleading with Moroccan investors to come to Nigeria, that investment and relationship in the commercial sense has already started.
“Imagine, in my state, you have already put about $1.5 billion into the fertiliser industry. I think this is something to be applauded and a very good news to our country. It will create employment opportunities. “It will be mutually beneficial to both nations and I do know that we will give you other areas when we are together which we want you to bring a delegation of investors from Morocco to come and visit,” Akpabio said.
The Senate President, who said that Nigeria/Morocco relationship had come to stay added that, “we are very determined to strengthen the oil and gas ties with Morocco.”
On the gas pipeline project, he told his guests that the Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently announced that they had overcome the initial difficulty taking the pipeline crossing the River Niger and now heading to Morocco.
“I was very excited because that was one of the things I was confronted with, whether the project was not moving, but apparently, whatever hitches, whatever difficulties they had, have now been surmounted and that project is on course.
“So, we hope to export our rich gas reserves, particularly through the pipeline and through our cooperation with Morocco,” he said.
Earlier, the Moroccan Ambassador Tagma thanked the Senate President for granting audience to him and his Deputy Head of Mission, Marouan Abousif.
He acknowledged Nigeria and Morocco as the two big countries in Africa and wanted the two nations to strengthen relationships both at the level of government and parliament.
Ambassador Tagma extended an invitation to the Nigerian parliament, through the Senate President, for a visit to Morocco to further consolidate the relationship between the two African nations.