Buhari to depart Abuja Thursday for AU summit in Addis Ababa

President Muhammadu Buhari will, on Thursday, depart Abuja on a four-day trip to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

The president is expected to attend the 35th ordinary session of the assembly of African Union heads of state and government at Addis Ababa.

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, in a statement on Wednesday, said the president will join other African leaders to find solutions to political, economic and social challenges facing the continent.

According to Adesina, the meeting will be centered on the theme, ‘Building Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthen Agriculture, Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development’.

Buhari is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with some African leaders on improving trade relations, partnering to tackle security challenges and collaborations with multilateral institutions for sustainable development.

“The president will be accompanied by the minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; minister of health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; minister of agriculture, Mohammed Abubakar; and minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, Sadiya Umar Farouk,” the statement reads.

“The national security adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno, and director general of the national intelligence agency (NIA), Amb. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, will also join the president at the AU meetings.”

The meeting is coming amid coups in African countries, especially in the West African region.

In the past 18 months, four coups have taken place in West Africa.

The latest related incident was an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday.