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The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Affairs, Senator Aliyu Wadada has promised to revive the committee’s activities after acknowledging concerns over its prolonged inactivity.

Wadada spoke on Thursday at the end of the committee’s meeting in Abuja.

Specifically, the chairman admitted that the committee had been underutilised, noting that it had met only once in the last three years.

He, however, said issues responsible for the situation had been identified during a closed-door session and would be addressed.

“Of course I feel concerned about it, but when we got into the details in a closed-door meeting, we got to know where the problems are, and they will all be taken care of. The committee will be as active as it should always be,” he said.

Commenting further, the chairman said the committee would focus on its core mandate of promoting and strengthening legislative relations between Nigeria’s National Assembly and parliamentary bodies across the world.

According to him, the committee will deepen engagement with regional and international legislative institutions, including the ECOWAS Parliament, the Pan-African Parliament, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and other parliamentary organisations.

He disclosed that a new work plan had already been developed to guide the committee’s activities.

He added: “The direction is basically around the responsibilities of the committee, which is to promote and deepen legislative relationship within Nigeria and with other legislative bodies around the world”.

The chairman added that the committee’s first major activity would be a courtesy visit to the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament in Nigeria as part of efforts to strengthen inter-parliamentary cooperation.

SINL NIgeria Online reports that Senator Wadada assured that the public would be kept informed of the committee’s activities as the new work plan is implemented.

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an immediate halt to all trade with NATO ally Spain, over what he called a lack of contributions to defense spending.

“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore by the way,” Trump said, sitting alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the group’s summit in Ankara, Turkey.

“Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate. They don’t pay,” the president continued. “I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits,” he said.

“Watch them come running back. Oh they’ll come running back,” he added.

Trump also accused Madrid of treating Rutte “terribly,” telling the NATO chief he “shouldn’t carry” Spain.

“I mean, you sort automatically carry [Spain] because you’re protecting an area,” the president said. “So they probably figured ‘they have to protect us, right?’”

According to Reuters, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office said it was treating Trump’s comments as “business as usual” and that it did not intend to change what it called Spain’s “excellent” trade relations with the U.S.

Trump has repeatedly hammered NATO member countries over their defense spending, pressing each member to meet a spending goal of 5 percent of its total gross domestic product (GDP). The alliance has agreed to meet a 3.5 percent mark by 2035.

Only five out of NATO’s 32 total member countries are projected to hit that goal by this year.

Trump has also been critical of NATO member countries, particularly Spain, over their response to the U.S. war in Iran, arguing they have not done enough to assist the U.S. in its efforts.

“Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing,” Trump said in a Truth Social post in April. “Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!”