Xenophobic Attack: Senate Pulls out of S/Africa Trip

Following the House of Representatives’ rejection of the Senate’s request for a joint delegation to South Af­rica to dialogue with the coun­try’s Parliament on how to end xenophobic attacks on Nige­rians and other nationals, the Upper House has dumped the trip.
The Lower House had turned down the Senate’s pro­posal, on the ground that it is an independent body and therefore free to send its own delegation to South Africa.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2017, the Senate resolved to dispatch a delegation led by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu on a mission to the South Africa Parliament to register Nigeria’s displeasure on the resurgence of xenopho­bic attacks on Nigerians in that country.
But on Wednesday, the Up­per Chamber announced its cancellation of the trip. While reporting the outcome of an Executive session of the Sen­ate that lasted for about 30 minutes, Ekweremadu, who presided over the session, said the decision to stop the trip was based on the failure of both chambers of the National As­sembly to reach a compromise on sending a joint delegation to South Africa.
He said that the House of Representative moved against the wish of the Senate to send a joint delegation, insisting on travelling without the Senate team.
He said: “On our trip to South Africa, we noted that the House of Representatives insists on going to South Afri­ca independently. We thought we could lead a single and har­monised delegation of the Na­tional Assembly to avoid the embarrassment of multiple del­egations. The Senate, therefore, decided to pull out to allow the House delegation to proceed.”