The House of Representatives Committee on Education on Thursday in Abuja called for closer ties with the United Kingdom to nurture democratic institutions in Nigeria.
Rep. Farouk Lawan, (PDP-Kano), the Chairman of the Committee, made the request when Mr Stephen O’Brien, the Minister in the Department for International Development (DFID) for Africa paid him a visit.
Lawan assured the DFID delegation of judicious use of assistance from the department.
“Every assistance form DFID will get to the direct beneficiaries.’’
He reiterated the committee’s readiness to continue with the partnership with the UK.
Farouk commended DFID for its assistance in the fight against HIV/AIDS and development of education in the country.
Earlier, O’Brien said the visit was to foster the existing strong relationship between UK and Nigeria.
He said that due parliamentary procedure was key to development of parliamentary institutions.
O’Brien also said that corruption remained a key barrier to the development of Nigeria.
“We welcome recent efforts of the Nigerian government to address corruption in the petroleum sector.
“We hope that these efforts will be diligently executed and appropriately followed up.’’
O'Brien said that support by the UK over the years had helped to recover eight million pounds of stolen cash and assets. (NAN)