President Muhammadu Buhari will today, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, leave Abuja for Accra, Ghana, to attend the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission.
The Ghanaian President, Nana Akuffo-Ado, convened the meeting to enable the leaders to discuss issues affecting countries around the Gulf of Guinea.
Members of the Gulf of Guinea Commission are – Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and Sao Tome and Principe.
President Buhari is scheduled to participate in and deliver remarks at the high-level discussion on strategies to strengthen peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region.
As the immediate past Chair of the Assembly, Buhari had championed collective efforts by member states of the region, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), GGC and their partners to address and prevent piracy.
In June 2019, the National Assembly passed the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act, 2019 (POMO Act), which aims at preventing and suppressing piracy, armed robbery and other unlawful acts against a ship.
The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd); the Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Ahmed Abubakar, among other government officials.
This development is coming hours after President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu returned to Nigeria from Europe.
Tinubu had left Nigeria a few weeks after his emergence as the winner of the 2023 presidential election for work rest.
