President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart for Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, July 15, to participate in the Fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (5thMYCM) of the African Union (AU).
Presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, in a statement on Friday, said the President as the Chairperson of ECOWAS will join Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers of the AU Member-States, and high-level dignitaries at the mid-year meeting which will take place on Sunday, July 16.
He said President Tinubu would present a report on the status of regional integration in ECOWAS, highlighting actions carried out during the period under review by ECOWAS institutions, member-states, the private sector, and other stakeholders to deepen integration through trade, free movement of persons, investment promotion, infrastructure development, peace, security and stability.
Alake added that the 5th MYCM, which is convening under the AU’s theme for 2023 christened “Acceleration of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation,” will bring together the Bureau of the AU Assembly, comprising the Heads of State and Government from Comoros, Botswana, Burundi, and Senegal, as well as the leaders of the eight RECs.
According to him, these regional economic communities include ECOWAS chaired by Nigeria, the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN SAD), the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
The presidential spokesman said the meeting will also involve the African Union Commission and the RMs.
President Tinubu, who will be accompanied by senior government officials, is expected to return to the country at the conclusion of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Former Lagos State governor, Akinwumi Ambode, stormed Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
The immediate past governor of Lagos State met with President Bola Tinubu, but the outcome of the meeting was not known as Ambode did not address the media after the meeting.
Daily Trust reports that Ambode, Sanwo-Olu and another former governor and immediate past Works Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola were some of the dignitaries who hosted Tinubu to a reception in Lagos two weeks ago.
It was a memorable event which reunited the quartet of Tinubu, Fashola, Ambode and Sanwo-Olu saddled at different times with the responsibility of governing the state with Sanwo-Olu currently in the saddle.
Ambode had fallen out with the leadership of the party after denying him a second term ticket which paved the way for Sanwo-Olu’s emergence as the party’s flag bearer in 2018 and subsequently the governor.
The aftermath of the 2019 electioneering had seen Ambode parting ways with the APC leadership as he did not participate in any of the activities of the party at the local level.
Instead his loyalists conducted parallel congresses during the congresses for election of party executives at ward, local government and state levels.
The reunification efforts came to the open when Sanwo-Olu made a surprise visit to Ambode during an in-house event to mark his 60th birthday.
This was followed by Ambode’s attendance at the reception in honour of the former governor, now President.
At the event, Tinubu had said, “I’m glad to see Ambode. Thank you, Akin!”
There are reports Ambode might be considered for a ministerial appointment or given APC senatorial ticket in the event that an incumbent senator joins Tinubu’s government.
Daily Trust cannot authenticate this as the president is yet to release his ministerial list.
Credit: Daily Trust
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