Presidency has advanced reasons for the cancellation of the planned trip by President Muhammadu Buhari to Niger Republic.
Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity Garba Shehu, in a telephone chat with BusinessDay in Abuja, said President Buhari preferred to send emissaries to represent him.
Recall that Special Adviser on media and publicity to the President Femi Adesina had announced on Sunday that President Buhari had been invited to join other world leaders for the celebration of the 59th year of the country’s independence.
But Shehu said President Buhari, was satisfied having had a useful discussion with his friend and brother, President Mahamadou Issoufou in the course of the weekend meeting in Abuja, of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
According to him, ” after a phone call last night between the leaders, President Buhari decided to send a delegation made up of the three governors of Katsina, Yobe and Borno States along with the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs to represent him,”.
He noted that there was nothing unusual about the cancellation as the President can always send people to stand in for him.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
