Speakers of state legislative houses under the aegis of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria on Monday commenced a one-week retreat in the cities of Toronto and Ottawa, Canada, IgbereTV reports
The retreat is on Legislative processes in Government.
Speaking during the opening ceremony in Ottawa, Chairman of the Conference and Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y Suleiman said that the all-encompassing one week learning programme was carefully put together for members of the Conference of Speakers and by extension State Lawmakers in Nigeria in order to look into practices from other nations for good governance.
He stated that the choice of Canada for the retreat was strategic given its shared history of being a Commonwealth nation and democratic experiences with Nigeria.
The chairman added that Canada is one of the most developed countries in the world worthy of learning from, especially for the fact that it ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, education, gender equality and environmental sustainability.
According to him, “While Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, Nigeria adopts presidential system fashioned after that of the United States” .
Abubakar Sulaiman added that, “Both Canada and Nigeria adopt federal system of government largely due to our multicultural characteristics and diverse ethnic backgrounds. And both nations’ Constitution provide for subnational Legislatures
