The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has urged Pakistan to assist Nigeria in the capacity building of the nation’s defence industry.

Lawan, according to a statement by his media office, stated on Friday while receiving in audience a delegation of the Senate of Pakistan.

Members of the Pakistani are in Nigeria to solicit support for the candidature of the Chairman of the Pakistani Senate for the Presidency of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Lawan solicited Pakistan’s support in the area of training and supply of weapons to the Nigerian Armed Forces to fight insurgency and other security challenges.

He said, “But one area that I think we need to sustain collaboration and partnership is in the area of helping Nigeria to build our defence industry.

“We started together in the 70s. For some reasons, we are still struggling to get stronger in the area of manufacturing or producing our needed defence weapons.

“But you have gone higher. We need to learn a lot from you in that respect. We have the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria located in Kaduna.

“They are still working hard to see how they can start producing the kind of weapons that we need in Nigeria. It’s going to take a while but I believe that you will graciously help us build the capacity of the people working in that place.”

The Senate President said the friendship between Pakistan and Nigeria – which dated back to Nigeria’s independence in 1960 – had transformed into a brotherhood.

“In all international fora, Pakistan and Nigeria have always been on the same side. Pakistan has been quite supportive of Nigeria in all ramifications.

“Presently, we do a lot together for our security, especially the Armed Forces. You also help us with some of the weapons that we need in fighting the insurgency.

“We appreciate that and we hope that this kind of relationship and brotherhood will continue,” Lawan said.

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On the primary reason for the visit, the Senate President said the issue of the candidature of the Chairman of the Pakistani Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, for the presidency of IPU “is like one of us running for that office.”

He said, “We will give him the support that he needs from us and if we can go beyond what we can offer as an institution to other areas including the African jurisdiction, we will do so.

The Chairman of the Pakistani Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who led the delegation, said, “The election is scheduled to be held in the first week of November.

“We feel that Nigeria’s support will be very critical and because Nigeria is a very important player in the international scenes and in particular with reference to Africa.

“It is in that spirit that we have come personally to solicit your support. And we hope that God willing if we are successful, we will be a voice, not just for Asia/Pacific, but also for Africa and democratic and civilised nations.”