The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has signed a $1.1million grant with the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) and the National Assembly for the NILS-CAP II Project. This is aimed at developing the capacity of lawmakers in the West African sub-region.

“The project for which we are signing the grant agreement today is a regional program that will build capacity of parliamentarians in Nigeria and ECOWAS countries in the areas of financial oversight and governance. It is thus exciting to me that implementation of this project will further enhance the status of NILS as a national institution with regional outlook,” Emmanuel Nnadozie (photo), the Executive Secretary of ACBF, said at the signing ceremony in Abuja on Monday.

According to him, the foundation has since 2004 invested a total of $30 million in Nigeria and supported the training of about 15,000 public officials in the country. Nnadozie, however, lauded the Nigerian government for being the biggest financial sponsor among African member countries in the organization’s Strategic Plan of 2017-2022.

For his part, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who signed the grant on behalf of the National Assembly, noted that the Phase 1 of the project had covered a two-year period from 2014-2016. He reiterated the support and commitment of the leadership of the National Assembly and the NILS Governing Council to efforts by ACBF in facilitating development in Africa.

Anita Fatunji