Buhari Leaves Nigeria for Mauritania Tomorrow

Signs medical residency bill

President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow leave Nigeria for Nouakchott, Mauritania, to participate at the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) taking place on July 1 and 2.

This is coming as the President yesterday in Abuja signed the Medical Residency Training Bill 2018 into law.

THISDAY learnt that the president, who will leave Abuja this morning for his Daura country home in Katsina State, will from there proceed to Nouakchott tomorrow to join other heads of government at the summit which had begun since June 25.

With the theme: “winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation” at the summit is scheduled to end on July 2, when the president is expected to return to the country.

Buhari will at the summit, deliver an address on the theme of the summit, “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.”

While AU Chairman and Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, will present a report on AU institutional reforms, the President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou will make a presentation on the Continental Free Trade Area. (AfCFTA).

In the same vein, Union Commission Chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, will deliver a paper on the Western Sahara question and Africa’s position on Africa, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union relations after 2020.

Zimbabwe President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to attend the summit, where leaders are expected to formally put in place the AfCFTA signed on March 21, 2018 in Kigali.

Other components of the summit include the Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee and 33rd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. It will be rounded off with the Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the AU taking place on Monday and Tuesday.

Mauritania is hosting the AU summit for the first time since the birth of the union.

The AU which has reportedly witnessed several major reforms, including the imposition of a 0.2-percent tax on the import tariffs to finance itself, replaced the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 2002 in Durban, South Africa, in accordance with the Sirte Declaration of September 9, 1999.

At the 28th Annual AU Summit held on January 30 to 31 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Morocco rejoined the continental body, 33 years after it quit in protest of the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has signed the Medical Residency Training Bill 2018 into law and also assented to Hydro Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HEPPADC) Act 2018.

According to his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, the Medical Residency Training Act was enacted to regulate medical residency training programme designed for the training of medical practitioners and dental surgeons.

According to him, the Act was enacted to encourage holders of Bachelors of Medicine and Bachelors of Surgery (MBBS) to proceed for their master’s degrees immediately after their National Youth Service (NYSC) scheme provided they have insurance.

According to Enang, the Act is expected to enhance the quality of medical service and encourage medical tourism to Nigeria.

He also said the HEPPADC Act will reduce the derivation payable to National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.