Senate President Godswill Akpabio has urged governments and parliaments to rebuild confidence in democracy by ensuring that citizens experience inclusion, opportunity and visible improvements in their daily lives.
Akpabio spoke at the 153rd Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union in Arusha, Tanzania, where he argued that elections and economic statistics alone were insufficient measures of democratic success.
Addressing the theme, Inclusion, Trust and Opportunity, he said progress should be judged by whether children could attend school, young people could find work and families could face the future with greater confidence.
Akpabio described trust as essential to democratic legitimacy and said governments could not compel citizens to trust public institutions. Confidence, he said, had to be earned through fairness, transparency, accountability and the fulfillment of public commitments.
He said the Nigerian National Assembly sought to translate citizens’ concerns into legislation, representation, appropriation and oversight, describing parliament as a bridge between the public and government.
The Senate President also argued that Nigeria’s ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity should be treated as a source of strength. He said no citizen or community should be excluded from the country’s common future.
Akpabio cited regional development institutions, tax reforms and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund among initiatives he said were intended to widen opportunity and bring development closer to citizens under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
He urged parliamentarians to build institutions that listen to citizens and governments that honor their commitments, saying democracy becomes meaningful when people can see themselves in national decisions and benefit from public policy.
