Posted on: 01:34 Fri, 03 Jun 2016



President Muhammadu Buhari has
again cancelled his scheduled trip to
Dakar, Senegal for the 49th Extra-
Ordinary Summit of the Economic
Community of West African States
(ECOWAS), adding to a string of
abruptly scrapped travels by the
Presidency in the last two weeks, THE
WILL can authoritatively report.

As exclusively reported by
THEWILL late Wednesday night,
the President had abruptly
cancelled his widely publicized
Thursday trip to Ogoni, Rivers State
to launch the cleaning up of years
of oil spills that have devastated the
Niger Delta community. Before
then, the President had also
abruptly cancelled trips to Lagos
state, citing scheduling difficulties.

Trusted Presidency sources with
knowledge of the latest cancellation
told THEWILL on Thursday that the
President may have directed Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo to
represent him at the one-day
summit slated for Friday, June 3.

The Vice President, who
represented the President at his no-
shows in Lagos and Ogoni, is
expected to depart for Dakar this
night or first thing Friday morning,
according to our checks if he asked
to go.

Our multiple sources said the
President shelved the Dakar trip so
as not to buy into the narrative that
he only prefers to do trips to
international destinations after
shunning Lagos and Rivers States.

“The President cares about
Nigerians and their feelings… He is
a very sensitive leader. Because he
didn’t make the Lagos and Rivers
trips he is also shelving the Senegal
trip so that he doesn’t seem
insensitive to the issues plaguing
the nation,” one of our sources
said.

Calls and text messages to
spokesmen of the President and
Vice President, Garba Shehu and
Olaolu Akande, respectively to get
an official position were not
acknowledged as at the time we
published this report.