Buhari Meets Cote D'Ivoire President In Abuja, See What They Discussed (Photos)

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The meeting was held at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport, Abuja. President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), during the cool of Monday night, held a closed-door meeting with the president of Cote D’Ivoire, Allassane Quattara, in Abuja.
The men were said to have met to discuss issues of mutual interest, The Punch reports.

The meeting which was scheduled for 6 pm was delayed as both of them did not arrive at the scheduled time.

Buhari arrived at about 6.35 pm while the Ivorian president arrived shortly after in the company of the minister of state for foreign affairs II, Musliu Obanikoro, and they immediately went into a closed-door meeting.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Quattara said that by conceding defeat and congratulating General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), President Goodluck Jonathan had set an example for other African leaders.

He said: “I have come to Nigeria to congratulate my brother the president-elect for his brilliant election and to let him know that the process of this election has effect on all of us in African countries, the peaceful process is a lesson for all African countries.

“You will recall that in my own country in 2010 when we had the presidential election, the former president did not want to leave office and this led to civil war with 3,000 people killed, so we are very proud of the Nigerian people.”

He stated that he would like to see more collaboration between Nigeria and his country in the area of regional integration, adding that his country will work hand in hand with Nigeria for stronger integration of the West African region.

“Nigeria is very important to all of us and I think I met Buhari a few years back, we will continue to work together to make sure that the West African region and the people of the region seek more prosperity and better lives,” he said.

Speaking on his discussion with Ouattara, Buhari said: “All I did was to thank him very much for coming to congratulate us and I think more specifically is to congratulate President Jonathan for his statesmanship because President Ouattara referred to his own experience where he was under siege for more than four months because his predecessor refused to acknowledge his winning. In Nigeria the opposite happened, hence we are enjoying the peace, so I specifically congratulate President Jonathan for his statesmanship.”

Before his meeting with Buhari, the Ivorian president had held talks with President Jonathan in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said that he appreciated Jonathan’s gesture because of the nasty experience he had after defeating his predecessor, Lawrent Gbagbo, in a general election about five years ago.

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