Akpabio Seeks Deepening Ties With Morocco

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has called for deepening the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Morocco to benefit both countries.

He called on Wednesday while receiving the Moroccan Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Moha Ouali Tagma, who paid him a courtesy visit at the National Assembly.

Akpabio described Morocco as a new investment destination and said the North African country “is becoming a great partner to Nigeria in the economic sector.”

The Senate President said Nigeria had much to learn from Morocco, which had become a place “all Nigerians want to do business with.”

Akpabio said the Nigerian Parliament had already signed an agreement to form the Nigeria/Morocco Friendship Group to underscore Nigeria’s “ very deep interest” in strengthening the bond with Morocco.

“And I am happy to note that while we are hoping to invest in Morocco and also pleading with Moroccan investors to come to Nigeria, that investment and that relationship in the commercial sense has already started.

“Imagine, in my State, you have already put about 1.5 billion dollars into the Fertiliser industry. This is something to be applauded, and excellent news for our country. It will create employment opportunities.

“It will be mutually beneficial to both nations, and I know that we will give you other areas when we are together, which we want you to bring a delegation of investors from Morocco to visit,” Akpabio said.

The Senate President said that the Nigeria/Morocco relationship had come to stay and that “we are very determined to strengthen the oil and gas ties with Morocco.”

On the Gas Pipeline Project, he told his guests that the Group CEO of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently announced that they had overcome the initial difficulty taking the Pipeline crossing the River Niger and now heading to Morocco.

“I was very excited because that was one of the things I was confronted with – whether the project was not moving – but, whatever hitches, whatever difficulties they had, have now been surmounted, and that project is on course.

“So we hope to export our rich gas reserves, particularly through the Pipeline and through our cooperation with Morocco,” he said.

Earlier, the Moroccan Ambassador Tagma thanked the Senate President for granting him and his Deputy Head of Mission, Marouan Abousif, an audience.

He acknowledged Nigeria and Morocco as the two big African countries and wanted the two nations to strengthen their relationships at the government and parliament levels.

Ambassador Tagma invited the Nigerian Parliament, through the Senate President, to visit Morocco further to consolidate the relationship between the two African nations.