Buhari returns to Abuja after attending education summit in UK

President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja, after attending a global summit on improving funding for education, held in the United Kingdom.

The president had travelled to the UK in late July for the summit.

In an earlier statement announcing the president’s activities in the UK, Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, said Buhari was also scheduled for a medical appointment in London after the summit.

The Global Education summit, co-hosted by Boris Johnson, British prime minister, and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, generated about $4 billion out of the target of $5 billion to improve access to quality education in low-income countries, including Nigeria.

At the summit, Buhari pledged to increase the budget for Nigeria’s education sector.

“We commit to progressively increase our annual domestic education expenditure by 50 percent over the next two years, and up to 100 percent by 2025, beyond the 20 percent global benchmark,” he had said.

The president’s plane touched down at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, around 6pm on Friday.

Present at the airport to receive Buhari were Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff; Babagana Monguno, national security adviser; Lucky Irabor, chief of defence staff (CDS), among others.

On arrival, the president inspected a guard of honour mounted by officers of the Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army.

There was also a welcome performance by a cultural troupe at the airport, before the Buhari left for the presidential villa

Hours before his return to the country, Buhari had also visited Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in London.