The presidency has
stated that President Muhammadu Buhari did not deliberately shun the recent
South-East Economic and Security Summit held in Enugu.
Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, in a statement on Friday said that the President did not snub anyone or group.
Garba said the President was presented with a request to attend the Economic
and Security Summit by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya
Onu.
“The President happily accepted. The visit to Enugu
was scheduled for Dec. 22 as can be found on the weekly programme,” the
statement reads.
“After this was done, some other stakeholders from the South-East came and advised
him 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.
“In view of this, President Buhari requested that the event be pushed forward to January 2017. 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 was what the organisers chose to
do.
“The President did not, and he absolutely has no
reason to snub anyone.”
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