Buhari, Osinbajo meet Blair in Abuja

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari and his his vice Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met with former United Kingdom (UK) prime minister, Tony Blair, in Abuja.

The closed-door meeting held at the defence house, Abuja, and was attended by APC stalwarts including Garba Shehu, spokesman of the Buhari campaign organisation and Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti state.

Tony Blair, who congratulated the General on his victory in the March 28 presidential election, met Buhari in a bid to strengthen relationship between Nigeria, UK, and the international community.

Blair applauded the success of the 2015 elections, saying the destiny of Nigeria is in the hands of Nigerians,who chose the president and vice president-elect.

“There is a very huge support for Nigeria now in the international community, support for meeting the challenges that lie ahead, the challenges are big, but the same spirit that defined the elections can be taken through this,” he said.

Speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting, Buhari said the leaders discussed the elections and the commitment of the incoming administration to the rule of law.

A longstanding relationship exists between APC leaders and the former prime minister.

Prior to his widely-publicised speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, Buhari and other APC leaders had met with Tony Blair in February to pursue the same goal of strengthening relationships.

The 62-year-old British statesman served as prime minister of UK between 1997 and 2007.