The Deputy President of the
Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has called for a visa-free regime among the
Commonwealth member states.
He emphasised that the quest for
stronger ties in the Commonwealth should “transcend the realms of lip service,
insular, and protective tendencies” for the organisation to remain relevant.
Ekweremadu made the
recommendation on Monday in a lead presentation on “The Role of
Parliamentarians in Building Stronger Ties Within the Commonwealth: Including
New Trade Issues, Visa Issues, Travel Restrictions, and Non-tariff
Restrictions” at the ongoing Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
He said: “Free movement of
citizens across Commonwealth borders is key to building stronger ties amongst
member states. National parliaments should, therefore, champion visa-free
regime for Commonwealth citizens.
“This may begin with certain
categories of passport holders. Presently, Nigeria has a visa-free regime with
South Africa for citizens with diplomatic and official passports”.
Throwing more light on his
recommendation, which was well received and endorsed by the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference, Ekweremadu also explained that citizens of
Commonwealth in West Africa were already enjoying a visa-free regime among
member nations, though as a general policy of the Economic Community of West
African States, ECOWAS.
He urged national parliaments of
Commonwealth nations to do more in ratifying travel and trade agreements
entered into by the executive arm of their countries, especially where
Commonwealth countries were involved.
The lawmaker said since
sovereignty resided with the people, it was only natural for the people’s
representatives to be at the centre of building the principles, modalities,
legal frameworks, institutions, and international partnerships for providing
and promoting mutual socio-economic and political development of member
nations.
“Parliamentarians should push for relevant legislations to create environments
that guarantee smooth and seamless trade agreements amongst member nations.
“Economic restrictions against
any Commonwealth state for any reason should be subject to confirmation by parliament,
not by Executive Orders.
“It is also time to push for
economic partnership protocols among Commonwealth nations”, he said.
He also called on national
parliaments of Commonwealth nations to establish specialised committees on
trade issues, visa issues, travel restrictions, non-tariff restrictions, among
others to make parliamentary inputs more effective in these areas.
Ekweremadu further canvassed
stronger parliamentary diplomacy and establishment of parliamentary friendship
groups among Commonwealth countries.
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