Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, met with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, and his aviation counterpart, Hadi Sirika, to discuss the flight flow between the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria.
Representatives from Emirates Airline, Allen Onyema, Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, and heads of aviation agencies were also present at the meeting.
Mr. Gbajabiamila told journalists after the meeting, which was held behind closed doors and lasted about three hours, that it was a fruitful deliberation where issues at stake were discussed.
He claimed that Nigeria and the UAE had good diplomatic relations and that the current spat would not detract from their long-standing friendship.
The Speaker stated that steps had been taken to address the issues, and that “this matter, I believe, will be sealed in the next couple of days.” We’re working on parliamentary diplomacy right now. That is exactly what we are doing.
“We will not allow this to detract from the enormous progress made between the two countries.”
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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, said the meeting was productive under the Speaker’s leadership, noting that the action demonstrated the importance of Executive-Legislative engagements.
He expressed optimism that all of the issues would be resolved in the near future.
