Buhari to attend King Charles’ coronation in UK

NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari will leave for the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday, May 3, to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and the Queen Consort Camilla in London.

In a statement released on Wednesday morning, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President Femi Adesina disclosed that Buhari would be attending a Commonwealth Summit in London ahead of the coronation, slated for Saturday, May 6.

“Ahead of the coronation, the Commonwealth Secretariat will take advantage of the gathering of leaders in London to host a Commonwealth Summit for Presidents and Heads of Government of Commonwealth countries on Friday, May 5.

“President Buhari is billed to participate in the Summit, which will deliberate on the Future of the Commonwealth and the Role of the Youth,” Adesina noted.

Buhari would be accompanied by some of his ministers, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, and the National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno.

Others on Buhari’s entourage include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, and Chairperson/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

Charles III was proclaimed king after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022, and Buhari visited him at Buckingham Palace to foster bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Upon his return, Buhari said the king showed interest in improving relations with Nigeria.

Buhari recently embarked on an eight-day state visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, starting on Tuesday, April 11.

The primary purpose of the visit, according to a statement released on Monday, April 10, by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, is to perform Umrah, the Lesser Hajj Pilgrimage.

The Saudi trip was expected to be his last foreign trip as Nigerian President, before it was announced that he would be embarking on another trip journey to London.

Buhari has been known to travel frequently since he became President in 2015, making both official and private trips to various parts of the world.

Some of his foreign trips, which have cost the country billions of taxpayers money, include visits to countries such as the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and South Africa, among others.

Between the last quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, Buhari visited Addis Ababa, Belgium, Gambia, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kenya, Portugal, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) The United Kingdom (UK), among several others.

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Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.