President Muhammadu Buhari started his activities for the week on Tuesday, April 24, when he received the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Onnoghen exonerated judges from being the sole cause of delay in court cases.
According to him, the responsibility of investigation and prosecution rest squarely with independent bodies.
Later on, Tuesday while responding to the killing of two Catholic Priests and worshippers at St Ignatius’ Catholic Church in Ukpor-Mbalom community in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, the President described the tragic incident as “vile, evil and satanic”.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, Buhari described the killing of priests and worshippers as a calculated attempt to initiate religious conflict and plunge communities into endless bloodletting.
He said the country under his leadership would not bow to the machinations of evildoers, promising that the assailants would be hunted down and made to pay for the sacrilege committed.
On Tuesday night, the President met with governors elected on the platform of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.
After the meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, media reports quoted sources in the presidency as saying that President Buhari had declared his support for former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole as the next national chairman of the party.
Meanwhile, Governor Okorocha was credited to have told State House Correspondents that all the 24 state governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress have endorsed President Buhari’s re-election bid.
On Wednesday, April 25, President Buhari presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, told State House Correspondents that FEC approved N64.108 billion for additional work on 43 kilometres’ part of section one of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
In other decisions, FEC also approved the establishment of ten rice mills in the six geopolitical zones at the cost of N10.7 billion and the establishment of department for traditional medicine in the Federal Ministry of Health with the sole aim of finding ways to use traditional medicine to tackle the scourge of malaria in the country.
On Thursday, April 26, President Buhari embarked on a two-day working visit to Bauchi State.
In Bauchi, the President inaugurated the 261 Nigerian Air Force Reference Hospital, 2.5 km Awalah Round-Giwo Road which was rehabilitated and dualised, and also the reconstructed 2.5 km Gombe road by the Governor Mohammed Abubakar-led administration.
On Friday, April 27, President Buhari returned to Abuja after his two-day working visit to Bauchi.
In Abuja, the President received a delegation of the Tijjaniya Movement led by Sheikh Muhammadu Mahi Ibrahim Inyass at the Presidential Villa.
The President used the occasion of the visit to reassure Nigerians that the unity of the country will remain his paramount objective and that of his government. ‘‘I will continue to do everything within my powers to unite Nigeria,’’ a statement issued by the President’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, said.
On Saturday, April 28, President Buhari departed Abuja for the United States for a meeting with President Donald Trump.
President Buhari will have a bilateral meeting with President Trump and a working lunch on Monday 30th April 2018.
The meeting is to discuss ways to enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries and to advance shared priorities, such as: promoting economic growth, fighting terrorism and other threats to peace and security.
According to a statement by Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President, Media & Publicity, the meeting will further deepen the U.S.-Nigeria relationship as the United States considers Nigeria’s economic growth, security and leadership in Africa to be critical aspects of their strategic partnership.
Earlier, the President attended the wedding reception Otelemaba Westwood and Amanda Mustapha, daughter of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Posted by Juliet Ekwebelam (NAN)
