Buhari Wednesday Leaves Nigeria To Cameroon

Three governors of opposition Peoples Democratic Party will join President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday as he leaves Nigeria to begin a two day visit to Cameroon to build a more effective regional coalition against Boko Haram.

The governors are Ben Ayade of Cross River, Mr Darius Ishaku of Taraba and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom.

They will be joined by three of their APC colleagues: Kashim Shettima of Borno, Mohammed Bindow of Adamawa and Samuel Ortom of Benue. Also included in President Buhari’s entourage are the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Defence and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency.

During the two- day visit, President Buhari will hold talks in Yaounde with President Paul Biya and senior Cameroonian Government officials.

The talks between President Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart are expected to focus on the full activation and deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, which has been established under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

Both leaders will also discuss further joint measures to curb terrorism, violent extremism and other cross-border crimes with President Biya and Cameroonian government officials.

President Buhari will also use the opportunity of his visit to Yauonde to meet with Nigerians living in Cameroon.

The President, who is due back in Abuja on Thursday, will undertake a one-day trip to Benin Republic on Saturday for talks with President Boni Yayi to round-off the diplomatic shuttles to neighbouring countries, which he embarked upon on assumption of office to strengthen regional cooperation against terrorism and make it much harder for Boko Haram to operate across national boundaries.