Buhari leaves for Paris today

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will today (Monday) begin a three-day state visit to Paris to discuss defence, security and economic relations with President Francois Hollande.

The Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, in a statement yesterday in Abuja said apart from his scheduled meeting with his host at the Elysee Palace on Monday evening, Buhari and his team would also confer with the French Minister of Defence, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian; the French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Mr. Michel Sapin; the French Minister of Economy and Industry, Mr. Emmanuel Macron and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Mr. Laurent Fabius.

He said: “The President would visit the headquarters of MEDEF, France’s largest federation of investors and employers where he will participate in a France/Nigeria Investment Forum with leading Nigerians.

Buhari will also confer with the Chief Executive Officers of leading French multinational companies such as Total and Lafarge on their current and future investments in Nigeria. “The President’s other scheduled engagements in Paris include a meeting with African Ambassadors to France and an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community.”

According to him, he would be accompanied on the visit by the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno (rtd); the Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment as well as the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).