Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday, received the
Togolese President and newly elected Chairman of ECOWAS, Mr. Faure Gnassingbe
at the Presidential Villa, assuring him of Nigeria’s support to him and the
regional body.
“Nigeria will support you in every way and we are very happy
with your election,” Prof. Osinbajo told the visiting leader.
“I know that our President, President Buhari will give every
measure of support required because he would want you to succeed very much,’’
Osinbajo said.
The Acting President added that the Buhari administration
was pleased that President Gnassingbe visited Nigeria almost immediately after
his election to lead the regional body, assuring him that Nigeria will continue
to play an active role in ECOWAS.
He assured the Togolese President that President Buhari
holds him in high regard as a person and considers him a friend.
Osinbajo congratulated Gnassingbe on his election as the
Chairman of ECOWAS and assured him that Nigeria was fully engaged and concerned
about regional issues and would continue to explore resolutions in partnership
with other member-states.
The Acting President also welcomed continued consultations
on the issue of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between ECOWAS and the
European Union (EU) while observing also that each country had peculiar
challenges.
The Acting President expressed the hope that the spirit of
ECOWAS, which is the spirit of brotherhood would be helpful in addressing some
of the issues confronting the regional body.
Earlier, the new ECOWAS leader said he came to hold
consultations with Nigeria because he and the body considers Nigeria a very
important player in the region.
According to him, Nigeria is an important player and
“Nigeria has to be fully engaged’’, in ECOWAS.
During the visit, President Gnassingbe highlighted a number
of ECOWAS issues and challenges, including the European Partnership Agreement,
being discussed by the regional body.
He said that as the ECOWAS chairman, he would be involved in
frequent exchanges and consultations with Nigeria considering Nigeria’s role in
the region.
The Togolese President also said he wanted the relationship between his country
and Nigeria to remain very close.
In a related development, Osinbajo earlier on Wednesday
received a Special Envoy of the Nigerien President, Mr Issoufou Mohamadou, Mr
Foumakoye Gado. Prof. Osinbajo assured the envoy of Nigeria’s continued support
and cooperation with Niger. Gado is the Petroleum Minister of Niger.
By Emmanuel Uzodinma
