Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meeting on Political Dialogue

Senior officials of EU and Nigeria met today in Abuja to prepare for the Ministerial Troika between both parties that will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in May/June this year. The EU team was composed of the Slovenian Presidency, the European Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council and the incoming French presidency, while the Nigerian Delegation consisting of officials of the Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Finance, National Planning Commission, Ministry of Energy, EFCC, ICPC, office of NSA, NDLEA, Human Rights Commission was led by Ambassador E E Onobu, (Director Regions MFA).

The meeting was held, in the framework of the Cotonou agreement, and in recognition of the importance that Nigeria and the EU attach to their relations, in follow up to the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in December 2007.

The officials exchanged views on the agenda of the Ministerial Troika and in this context discussed a number of issues of mutual interest, including:

• Global issues: Those identified in the Africa-EU joint strategy, e. g., conflict management and prevention, migration, climate change, energy security and sustainability, terrorism.
• Africa-EU issues: Africa-EU relations, follow up to AU-EU and ECOWAS-EU meetings, situation in neighbouring countries and regional integration.
• Nigeria-EU issues: Good governance and electoral processes, the fight against corruption, security, crime and the situation in the Niger Delta.