Senator Bukola Saraki, on Monday 28th of August played host to a U.S. Congressional Delegation in Abuja.
According to the Senate President, the meeting “…was held to discuss ways to improve the relationship between the U.S. and Nigeria, securing greater support in the fight against terrorism and for the humanitarian crisis in different parts of the country.”
He further said “We also discussed improving agriculture in Nigeria and providing jobs for our people.
“I think the commitment that we have is that they have seen that there is a need to strengthen the institutional relationships between the legislatures of both our countries and that is very key”
Saraki also said that the U.S had agreed in principle to sell arms to Nigeria to aid in the fight against terrorism.
He said “As you are aware, there is a new development that has happened in respect to the procurement of arms by the country.
“For the first time, the U.S. Government has agreed in principle to sell arms to Nigeria to help in our fight against insurgency. Of course, we will look into areas of human rights where there has always been a concern.
“We hope that following this visit, the sale of arms to our armed forces will now become a reality.
“This will represent a new chapter that we are opening, where the U.S. Government will be ready to sell arms to Nigeria and that will help to strengthen efforts of our armed forces in surveillance, intelligence and fight against terrorism.
“The commitment that they have made today is that terrorism is an issue that should not be left to Nigeria alone and if it means that we may need to secure new weapons from other countries, then it is an option that needs to be urgently explored.
“However, we will also continue to play our own role in the area of human rights.”
