• Insists elections, economic statistics mean little if citizens cannot feel governance impact
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has challenged parliaments and governments across the world to rebuild public trust in democracy by ensuring that citizens enjoy genuine inclusion, opportunity and tangible improvements in their lives.
Akpabio, according to a statement from his Media Office, made the call on Tuesday while addressing the 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Arusha, Tanzania, where he declared that democracy must be judged not merely by the conduct of elections or impressive economic statistics, but by the quality of life of ordinary citizens.
Speaking on the theme, “Inclusion, Trust and Opportunity,” the Senate President said the three principles remained the foundations of a democratic system that gives every citizen a voice, every community a sense of belonging and every generation a reason to hope.
“For Nigeria, democracy means more than elections, and development more than impressive statistics,” Akpabio told the gathering of parliamentarians.
“Their true measure is the child who can attend school, the young person who can find work, and the family that can face tomorrow with confidence. If progress is not seen in our people, our work is not finished,” he said.
Akpabio, who is also Chairman of Nigeria’s National Assembly and leader of the Nigerian delegation to the IPU assembly, said public trust remained indispensable to the survival and effectiveness of democratic institutions.
According to him, governments cannot compel citizens to trust them, stressing that confidence in public institutions must be earned through fairness, transparency and accountability.
He said, “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 Senate President said the National Assembly was conscious of its responsibility to translate the concerns and aspirations of Nigerians into laws, policies and government action through legislation, representation, appropriation and oversight.
He described parliament as a bridge between ordinary citizens and government, saying its responsibility extended to giving voice to Nigerians who might never have the opportunity to enter legislative chambers.
Akpabio said, “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.”
He also stressed the need for governments to treat diversity as an asset rather than a source of division, arguing that Nigeria’s ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious plurality made inclusion both a national obligation and a democratic necessity.
“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.
Akpabio told the international parliamentary community that Nigeria, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and in collaboration with the 10th National Assembly, was implementing reforms designed to expand participation, create opportunities and bring development closer to citizens.
He cited the expansion of regional development institutions as part of efforts to ensure that development interventions responded more directly to the needs of communities.
The Senate President also highlighted ongoing tax reforms, saying they were intended to make the tax system fairer, reduce pressure on low-income earners and small businesses, and create a more conducive environment for enterprise.
He further pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which provides eligible students with interest-free financing for higher education, as an intervention aimed at breaking the link between poverty and limited educational opportunities.
Akpabio said, “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.”
The Senate President urged parliamentarians participating in the IPU assembly to renew their commitment to building institutions that listen to citizens, governments that serve the people and systems that honour their commitments.
He said democratic governance would become meaningful only when inclusion was transformed into active participation, trust into partnership and opportunity into shared prosperity.
“Let us turn inclusion into participation, trust into partnership and opportunity into shared prosperity,” he said.
Akpabio further insisted that no community should be excluded from a country’s national aspirations, regardless of its size or location.
He said, “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.”