Buhari Leaves for Commonwealth, Climate Change Meetings Today
President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja today for Malta to participate in the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which begins in the island nation on Friday.
A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari and other Heads of State and Government who would be in Malta for the summit would be 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 Commonwealth is made up of Britain, Nigeria and 51 other countries that work together to pursue common goals and promote development, democracy, peace, security and good governance.
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 statement said the Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, would formally declare the summit open and host a banquet in honour of Buhari and other participating Heads of State and Government.
Adesina said that at the conclusion of the Summit on Sunday, Buhari would leave Malta for Paris where he would present Nigeria’s statement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to open in the French capital on Monday, November 30.
The statement said: “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.
“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.”
The statement said deliberations at the Paris meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic would focus mainly on the war against Boko Haram and other security issues of common interest to participating countries.
Adesina said Buhari would 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.)