Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate, led Nigeria’s delegation to the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong and Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, accompanied Akpabio on the trip.
When the Senate president and his entourage arrived at the Geneva airport, Mr. Mxolisi Nkosi, the ambassador of South Africa, and Ambassador Abiodun Richards Adejola, the ambassador of Nigeria, met them.
The Special Assistant on Media to the Senate President, Jackson Udom, announced that this year’s event would be held from March 23–27, 2024.
The following is included in a letter signed by Martin Chungong, the Secretary General of the IPU, and addressed to the President of the Nigerian Senate: “Dear Mr. President, the 148th Assembly of the IPU and related meetings will be held at the International Conference Centre of Geneva, (ICCG) Switzerland from Saturday, 23rd to Wednesday, 27th March, 2024.”
With great pleasure, we have enclosed comprehensive meeting details, including the agendas of the IPU statutory bodies. It is our sincere hope that the 148th Assembly will have representation from your parliament, and that the delegation led by you will actively participate in the proceedings.
At the last edition of the IPU which held in Luanda, Angola, Nigeria broke a 59-year-old jinx when Akpabio was elected into the Executive Committee of the global parliamentary body. The last time Nigeria had the privilege to be in the Executive Committee of IPU was in 1964.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), global organization of national parliaments, was founded in 1889, and dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue. It has grown into a truly global organization with 179-member countries out of 193 countries of the world.
On March 7, 2024, the African Parliamentary Union (APU) nominated Akpabio to the Preparatory Committee of the IPU’s Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament.
The IPU enables parliaments and lawmakers to advance global peace, democracy, and sustainable development by facilitating parliamentary diplomacy.