Buhari cancels visit  to Lagos

President Muhammadu Buhari has put off his planned and hyped two-day state visit to Lagos, the commercial nerve of the country.

This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who told journalists in Abuja that the President would now be represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Members of the President’s advance team including protocol officials, security agents, medical officers and journalists were already in Lagos ahead of the President’s visit.

During the visit, the President was scheduled to inaugurate a number of projects. He was to arrive Lagos on Monday and departon Tuesday.

“The truth is that the Vice-President will now represent the President in Lagos. There is nothing wrong if the Vice-President represents the President at functions,” he said.

In a separate development , the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also confirmed the development stating that the Vice President would only inaugurate a few of the projects adding that the President would still visit Lagos after the Ramadan.

“The President is faced with scheduling difficulties and that is the reason for the postponement of the visit. He needs more time for Lagos and for Edo which had earlier been stepped down. As a result of this, the visit has been scaled down and he is being represented by the VP, who is going to Lagos to commission a few projects, leaving the rest for  President. The President will undertake these visits after the Ramadan” Shehu said.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, had in a statement on Saturday announcers that the President would inaugurate some landmark projects executed by the Lagos state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode .

According to Ayorinde, Buhari’s visit is the first “in about 15 years that a sitting president will be visiting the state on a working visit,”

Some of the projects the President would have inaugurated include the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Rescue Unit in Cappa Oshodi and the newly constructed Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo among others.

 

Elizabeth Archibong