N’Assembly remains hope of ordinary Nigerians – Akpabio

File: The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said the National Assembly remains the bridge through which the hopes and aspirations of ordinary Nigerians translate into government decisions.

Akpabio said this on Tuesday while addressing the 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Arusha, Tanzania, where he identified inclusion, trust and opportunity as the pillars of a democracy that delivers tangible benefits to citizens.

The Senate President, who is also Chairman of Nigeria’s National Assembly and head of the Nigerian delegation to the global parliamentary gathering, said the success of democracy should not be judged by elections or economic statistics alone, but by its impact on the daily lives of Nigerians.

Akpabio said inclusion, trust and opportunity are the foundations of a democracy.

He said, “If progress is not seen in our people, our work is not finished. Trust is the invisible currency of democracy.

We cannot command it, demand it or legislate it into existence. We earn it through fairness, transparency and accountability.

“Every promise kept strengthens trust; every citizen heard brings government closer to the people.

“The Nigerian National Assembly embraces this responsibility through legislation, representation, appropriation and oversight. Our chambers hear the voices of those who may never enter them. Parliament is a bridge over which the hopes of ordinary people travel into the decisions of government.”

Akpabio said Nigeria’s diversity made inclusion both a democratic necessity and a national responsibility, insisting that no citizen or community should be excluded from the country’s common future.

“Our many peoples, languages, cultures and faiths are sources of strength. No citizen should be a stranger in his own country, and no community should stand at the margins of our common future,” he said.

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He told the international parliamentary forum that the administration of President Bola Tinubu, working with the 10th National Assembly, was pursuing reforms designed to widen participation and expand opportunities for Nigerians.

Akpabio said expanded regional development institutions were aimed at bringing development closer to communities and responding more directly to their needs.

He also said tax reforms were being pursued to make the system fairer, reduce the burden on low-income earners and small businesses, and strengthen enterprise.

On education, the Senate President highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as an intervention aimed at ensuring that financial circumstances did not determine the future of young Nigerians.

“Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, eligible students can access interest-free financing for higher education. Behind this intervention stands a powerful conviction: poverty must never have the final word on a young person’s potential. The circumstances of birth must not become the boundaries of destiny.

“Distinguished colleagues, let this Assembly renew our resolve to build Parliaments that listen, governments that serve and institutions that keep faith with their people.

“Let us turn inclusion into participation, trust into partnership and opportunity into shared prosperity.

“The smallest village must have a stake in the greatest national ambition. When every citizen can say, “I belong, I am heard, and my future matters,” democracy becomes a promise fulfilled.

“That is the future Nigeria seeks. That is the future we must build together. I thank you,” Akpabio said.