Buhari Heads For Istanbul, To Attend Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday depart Abuja for Istanbul to attend the third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit.

The announcement was made in a statement released by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, on Thursday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Shehu said the theme of the summit is “Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity” and the agenda includes reviewing the cooperation between African countries and Turkey since the last summit in 2014.

He stated that the summit is coming on the heels of President Recep Erdogan’s recent state visit to Nigeria during which several agreements were signed.

Shehu added that the summit would provide guidelines and direction for cooperation with African countries for the next five years.

The statement reads: “The third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit is coming on the heels of President Erdogan’s recent State Visit to Nigeria during which several agreements in the fields of energy, defence industry, mining and hydrocarbons were signed to expand existing bilateral ties.

“The Turkish leader had, during the visit to Nigeria, affirmed his commitment to immediately expand the volume of trade between the two countries to 5 billion dollars and the Nigerian delegation will seize the opportunity of the gathering in Istanbul to enhance cooperation with other partners for more trade and investment opportunities in the country.

“It is expected that the Summit would provide guidelines and direction for cooperation with African countries for the next five years.”

Shehu said Buhari will be accompanied on the trip by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello.

Others are Ministers of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Agriculture, Mohammed Abubakar;  Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Abubakar.

The presidential spokesman said the Nigerian leader is expected back in Abuja on Sunday, December 19.