Buhari to travel to Mali Thursday

President Muhammadu Buhari will leave for Bamako, Mali, on a one-day visit on Thursday, in a bid to find a lasting solution to the current political crisis in the country.

The ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, briefed the president on his mission to the country during a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Also at the meeting was the President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou.

A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said President Buhari and some West Africa leaders led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger had agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country.

Host President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Presidents Machy Sall (Senegal), Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana) and Alassane Ouattara (Cote d’Ivoire) are also expected to be at the meeting.

READ ALSO: ECOWAS appoints Jonathan as special envoy to Mali

President Buhari said: “We will ask the President of Niger, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS to brief us as a group, and we will then know the way forward.”

He also thanked ex-President Jonathan for his comprehensive briefing on the situation in Mali.

Mali has been rocked by protests against President Keita, who has spent two out of the five-year second term in office.

A resistance group, M5, is insisting on the dissolution of the Constitutional Court and the president’s resignation before peace can return to the country.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now