The National Assembly has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s newly unveiled ‘4D Foreign Policy’, describing it as dynamic and articulate.
The chairmen of both the Senate and House of Representatives’ Committees on Foreign Affairs, Senator Abubakar Bello and Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, made this known on Friday after a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Recall that the Nigerian Government recently launched a new ‘4D’ policy that provides dynamic and unique concepts, which is anchored on democracy, development, demography, and diaspora.
The ‘4D’ policy showcases President Tinubu’s principles and the opportunities that will attract foreign direct investment.
Bello affirmed that the nation will soon witness changes in its foreign policy, which will ensure that Nigeria and Nigerians are given the right place in the international scene, adding that the National Assembly is working on imminent restructuring to effect the changes in line with global best practices.
“Essentially, we discussed our foreign policies and how to improve and have a robust clear foreign policy for the understanding of everyone and the benefit of Nigerians and Nigeria as a country.
“We strongly believe that necessary steps must be taken to improve the image of Nigeria and Nigerians internationally. And I am glad Mr. President has taken bold steps towards ensuring that.
“So, essentially, without waste of time, that is the reason we saw Mr. President today, and I think we had a perfect meeting. And we agreed to join hands between the executive arm and the legislative arm to work together towards achieving these goals,” said Bello.
Speaking specifically on how the changes will affect Africa as the centrepiece, Bello added “…Mr President is very much interested in changing the dynamics of our foreign policy, which has been – if you may call it – for a while now, obsolete. There hasn’t been any major review of foreign policies.”
He said it was high time Nigeria’s foreign policies aligned with global best practices and standards.
“So, yes, I believe going forward, we’re going to be working very hard with the executive arm to look at all our previous agreements and treaties or what have you, to see those that need to be amended or that need to be implemented.
“So yes, there’s a lot of work to be done. And by God’s ways, I think we’ll sail through,” he noted.
Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin
Corroborating, the Senate committee chairman, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, in his remarks, said they advised the president on how to improve the policy.
He commended President Tinubu for his very articulate and dynamic foreign policy captured in the four ‘Ds’: democracy, development, demography, and diaspora.
“Everybody who is a follower of international relations and foreign policy will agree that it’s a well-articulated foreign policy.
And we assured him of all the necessary support from the National Assembly and gave some advice on one or two things: how things can be improved, which of course, my colleague has already delved into,” Hon. Jibrin remarked.
Kano State Politics
The political crisis in Kano State, arising from the last gubernatorial tussle, was also discussed at the meeting with President Tinubu, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin disclosed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgement of the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal, which overturned the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as duly elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He hoped that it would be amicably resolved even before the final determination by the court.
“There’s no way I will come here without also discussing politics.
So, I also had my chat with him, particularly on how to ensure that we continue to have peace and harmony in Kano and also proffer some recommendations in that regard.
Hopefully, we believe that the burning crisis in Kano, as regards the governorship seat, will be resolved amicably without prejudice to the cases that are in court,” said Hon. Jibrin, adding that the president is interested in the peaceful resolution of the crisis.