After Iran, Buhari off to Malta and France

President Muhammadu Buhari will leave for Malta on Thursday to participate at the 2015 Commonwealth heads of government meeting.

Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, confirmed this in a statement, saying at the end of the commonwealth meeting, the president will attend a climate conference in Paris, capital of France.

“President Buhari and other heads of state and government who will be in Malta for this year’s summit are expected to deliberate on fresh Commonwealth initiatives on development and climate change with a view to adding greater value to ongoing global efforts in these areas,” the statement read.

“A new secretary-general of the Commonwealth who will take over from the incumbent, Kamalesh Sharma, will be announced at the summit, which will also feature the presentation of a progress report on the eradication of polio.

“The head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will formally declare the summit open and host a banquet in honour of President Buhari and other participating heads of state and government.

“At the conclusion of the summit on Sunday, President Buhari will leave Malta for Paris where he will present Nigeria’s statement at the United Nations climate change conference scheduled to open in the French capital on Monday, November 30.

“The president will join over 100 other world leaders at the leaders event on the opening day of the conference which will be hosted by President Francois Hollande of France and the secretary-general of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon.

“President Buhari will also participate in a summit of the heads of state and government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic which has been scheduled to take place on December 2 in Paris on the sidelines of the United Nations conference on climate change.

“Deliberations at the Paris meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic will focus mainly on the war against Boko Haram and other security issues of common interest to participating countries.

“President Buhari will be accompanied on the trip by the minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, the minister of environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, and the national security adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.).”