Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, will travel to Ethiopia on Friday January 26, 2018, to take part in the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU).
Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Thursday.
The highlight of the President’s engagements during the visit will be his statement under the historic theme for the AU Summit, “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.”
This is the first time in the 54-year history of the AU that anti-corruption will be made a theme of the gathering of the regional leaders.
On July 4, 2017, African leaders unanimously endorsed President Buhari to champion the fight against corruption on the continent.
The endorsement, which took place during the 29th Session of the AU, was in recognition of his personal commitment and acclaimed anti-graft drive at the domestic level.
Buhari had also accepted his nomination on July 25, 2017, in a letter to President Alpha Conde of Guinea, the out-going AU Chairperson.
While thanking his colleagues for the honour, the Nigerian leader reiterated his “commitment to contributing towards our collective efforts to strengthen good governance and development on the continent.”
Apart from anti-corruption, other issues lined for consideration by African leaders and their delegations include peace and security (transnational terrorism); institutional reforms of the continental body; free movement of persons; climate change; trade; aviation; education; gender and development.
On the sidelines of the event, Buhari would hold bilateral meetings with some of his colleagues on issues of common interests.
He would be accompanied on the trip by Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abdulrahman Danbazau, the Minister of Interior.
Others are Hadi Sirika, the Minister of State for Aviation, Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser, Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
