The National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Stephen Ntim has conferred with his counterpart in Nigeria, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Abdullahi Ganduje at the APC National headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
Mr Ntim in a discussion with his counterpart while in Africa’s most populous country, emphasized that it would be significant for the APC and NPP to be sharing ideas on enthroning good governance so that the parties would remain in power for many more years.
The NPP national chairman said his party had a lot to learn from Ganduje and Nigeria’s ruling party, the APC.
“As a party, we have a lot to learn from Ganduje as an individual, and from the APC as a political party,” he stressed.
Ntim also used the opportunity to congratulate Ganduje on his election as APC national chairman, and Nigeria on her 63rd Independence Anniversary.
“We are happy and proud to be sharing this day with you. It signals greater days ahead and we hope you will want to reciprocate this visit”, he said.
Chairman Ntim said his visit was to begin a journey between the ruling parties of the two countries on how to enthrone good governance in the interest of its citizens.
Ntim noted that Nigeria and Ghana had a long-standing relationship that could not be taken for granted, adding that since 2017, Ghanaian presidents had visited Nigeria 45 times.
He thanked the APC National Chairman for accepting to meet with him in spite of the short notice, saying he looked forward to having him visit Ghana soon.
Ntim was accompanied on the visit by the Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Rashid Bawa and some officials of his party among others.
On his part, Abdullahi Ganduje, said good governance is the antidote against the current wave of military coups in West Africa.
The APC National Chairman said with good governance, the masses themselves will resist incursion of the military into governance across African countries.
He noted that with good governance systems in place, the masses would be the ones to resist any military incursions that could derail democratic rule.
“This kind of visit is important and good to help us exchange ideas on how to deliver good governance to the people, and it can even reduce the tide of military incursions that we are witnessing recently.
He described the visit of the NPP national chairman as an icebreaker that would strengthen the relationship between the ruling political parties of both countries.
This, he said, was especially because Ghana and Nigeria shared the same values and political history.
Ganduje said the relationship between both countries was long-standing, noting that they passed through the same colonial masters and shared the same national language: English.
He recalled how both countries secured independence from Britain without shedding blood and spoke English as their official language which further strengthened their bond among Francophone neighbours.