The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila is leading the Nigerian delegation to the 50th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Africa Region, Conference taking place in Zanzibar, Tanzania from September 1. Members of the Nigerian delegation include the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and lawmakers from both chambers of the National Assembly. The 50th Conference, with the theme ‘E-Parliament: Seamless Platform for Facilitating Democracy’ will feature discussions at plenary sessions on different categories such as ‘Parliamentary Affairs: The use of ICT in strengthening public involvement in the Legislative Process,’ and Social Affairs: The use of Social Media in enhancing Parliamentarians’ Constituency engagement.’ Other categories are Gender Affairs: Empowerment of Women: Strategies to enable Women’s participation in decision making; Youth Affairs: Implementation of Youth Policies as a tool to combat Migration. The rest of the categories for discussion at the conference include Economic Affairs: Enhancing Information and Communication Technolgy (ICT) use in providing life-changing solutions in rural communities, and Political Affairs: The role of technology in developing democratic practices. Speaking on the conference, Speaker Gbajabiamila said the CPA platform would be maximized by the Nigeria delegation towards enhancing the country’s democracy and help deepen cooperation with member countries to strengthen democracy in Africa. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Conference is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, the 4th September 2019. Delegates from other African countries in the Commonwealth are expected at the 50th CPA Conference.
