President Buhari Did Not Snub Southeast—Presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari has explained that his absence at the recent Economic and Security Summit held in Enugu, capital of Enugu State, did not amount to his snubbing the southeast as was reported by some media organizations.

A statement released today and signed by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, described media reports that President Buhari had snubbed the recent South-East Economic and Security Summit as inaccurate.

According to Mr. Shehu, President Buhari had received an invitation from Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, to attend the summit and had “happily accepted.” The statement added: “The visit to Enugu was scheduled for Thursday 22nd as can be found on the weekly program. After this was done, some other stakeholders from the South East came and advised [the president] to not go in view of the closeness of the date to Christmas; that given the sensitivity of the period to the people, a presidential visit may come with overexertion and, possibly, be disruptive of Christmas.”

According to the presidential spokesman, Mr. Buhari then requested that the event be shifted to January 2017 to enable him to attend. “Given his nature, he did not insist. He said if the change of date [was] not possible, then the event [could] go on without him. That is what the organizers chose to do,” Mr. Shehu stated.

He reiterated, “The President did not, and he absolutely has no reason to snub anyone one.”