By Gbenga   Akanmu

LAGOS – Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has pledged to assist the South West Houses of Assembly on capacity building and development.

Ikuforiji made the pledge during the visit of a delegation of UK Department for International Development,  DFID, and State Accountability and Voice Initiative,  SAVI to his office in Lagos.

The Speaker said the Lagos State House of Assembly, as part of its legislative agenda, would draw up a comprehensive programme on how to achieve the objective, adding that South West states of Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti will benefit from the initiative.

Ikufuriji said the regional legislative agenda will “make the states find their feet” and prepare them for the challenges of legislative democracy.

While commending the officials, he admitted that unless the lawmakers were well grounded in the legislative practice and played their roles effectively, the people may not enjoy the benefit of democratic governance.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Kevin Gafer informed the gathering that the purpose of the visit was to re-establish the good relationship between DFID/SAVI and the Assembly.