Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Nigerian Senate, has been appointed as a member of the Preparatory Committee for the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament 2025 by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
A letter signed by the IPU General Secretary, Martin Chungong, addressed to the Senate President, confirmed Akpabio’s nomination.
According to the nomination letter, the Preparatory Committee’s first meeting will be held on 16-17 May 2024 at the IPU Headquarters in Geneva in preparation for the conference.
Since 2000, the IPU has been organizing the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament every five years to strengthen the parliamentary aspect of the United Nations’ work and address the democracy gap in international relations.
The Preparatory Committee, which includes around 20 Speakers of Parliament, representatives of the IPU Executive Committee, and the senior UN Secretary-General representative, will oversee the preparations for the 2025 Speakers’ Conference.
The committee typically convenes four times over 18 months, with the final meeting occurring just before the conference.
Alongside Akpabio, other members of the committee are distinguished leaders from different regions around the world, such as Dr. Tulia Ackson from the IPU and Mr. Brahim Boughali from the National People’s Assembly of Algeria.
At the initial meeting in May, the nominees will discuss the conference’s logistics, objectives, themes, and expected outcomes in anticipation of the event in 2025.