The Nation Newspaper

Tag: King Mohammed VI

  • African leaders congratulate Buhari over reelection

    More African leaders on Wednesday have sent congratulatory messages to President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election.

    King Mohammed VI of the Kingdom of Morocco described President Buhari’s victory as an affirmation of the level of confidence Nigerians have in their President and promised to work with him to advance the interests of both countries.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, he said ‘‘Your re-election is a testimony to the level of confidence that you enjoy among the people of Nigeria, attributable to your wisdom, experience in politics, sense of engagement and devotion to the service and the protection of the interests of the country especially as they relate to the prosperity, wellbeing and security of your people,”

    The monarch expressed satisfaction with the existing cordial and fraternal African relationship linking the two leaders, their people, and nations.

    He reiterated his determination to work in concert with President Buhari to reinforce the mutually beneficial relationship between Morocco and Nigeria and to give it a new impetus to serve as a model on the African continent.

    President Alpha Omar Conde of Guinea also extended his congratulations, describing the re-election of President Buhari as a dose of hope for the West African region.

    Professor Conde expressed confidence that the cordial relations between Nigeria and Guinea will continue to get better.

    Earlier, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, who was the first leader to call President Buhari minutes after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner of the 2019 presidential elections, said he looked forward to working with the Nigerian leader to further strengthen Nigeria-Niger relations.

    President Buhari has also received congratulatory messages from Presidents Nana Koffi-Addo of Ghana and Macky Sall of Senegal.

  • King of Morocco wishes Buhari well

    King of Morocco wishes Buhari well

    King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Wednesday had a telephone conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari in London, where the Nigerian president is on vacation.

    The King, who initiated the call, asked after the President’s health and expressed satisfaction at his rate of improvement.

    A statement by the Special Adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said that the two leaders also discussed the current stage of the Morocco-Nigeria Atlantic crude oil pipeline project.

    It reads “King Mohammed VI thanked President Buhari for Nigeria’s support in returning Morocco to the African Union and notified him of Morocco’s request to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

    “The Moroccan King also expressed his intention to make the Rabat-Abuja strategic partnership a framework for regular consultation and cooperation on African issues of mutual interest to both countries.

    “President Buhari, who thanked King Mohammed VI for the phone call, said that he looked forward to deepening relations between both countries,” it stated.

  • Moroccan king happy with Buhari’s health improvement

    Moroccan king happy with Buhari’s health improvement

    King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Wednesday had a telephone conversation with President Muhammad Buhari in London, where the Nigerian president is on vacation.

    A statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said the king initiated the call.

    Adesina stated that the king asked after the president’ s health and expressed satisfaction at his rate of improvement.

    According to him, the two leaders also discussed the current stage of the Morocco-Nigeria Atlantic crude oil pipeline project.

    He noted that the king thanked Buhari for Nigeria’s support in returning Morocco to the African Union and notified him of Morocco’s request to join the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS).

    “The Moroccan king also expressed intention to make the Rabat-Abuja strategic partnership a framework for regular consultation and cooperation on African issues of mutual interest to both countries.”

    He said Buhari thanked the Moroccan King for the phone call, saying he looked forward to deepening relations between both countries.

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  • Morocco’s King snubs Jonathan

    Morocco’s King snubs Jonathan

    •Declines telephone conversation

    The patchy diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Morocco may worsen after King Mohammed VI of the North African country turned down a request from President Goodluck Jonathan for a telephone conversation.

    It was learnt that the Moroccan monarch deemed such a telephone conversation a few weeks to the Nigerian presidential election as inappropriate.

    Morocco is an Islamic nation and the authorities there thought that President Jonathan wanted to use the phone call to gain an undue advantage over his challengers in the race.

    Online publication, Premium Times, quoted the Moroccan Foreign Affairs ministry as saying in a statement on Friday that: “The request by Nigerian authorities for a phone conversation between HM King Mohammed VI and Nigerian president was refused by the Monarch who deemed it inappropriate on grounds of the upcoming elections in Nigeria.”

    The Moroccan authorities added that another request by Nigeria to send an envoy to Rabat was equally rejected because the monarch viewed the overture as an attempt by President Jonathan to manipulate his country to secure Muslim votes in the forthcoming election. The ministry said Mohammed VI refused to speak to the president partly because of “Nigeria’s positions regarding the sacred national, Arab and Islamic causes.”

    Jonathan’s main challenger, General Muhammadu Buhari, is a Muslim and the Presidency felt that the support of Morocco might sway a few more votes for Jonathan from Nigerian Muslims. Nigeria and Morocco have not been the best of friends over the years on account of Abuja’s support for independence for Western Sahara which Rabat continues to lay claim to as its territory.

    President Jonathan has been unusually aggressive in his re-election bid, criss-crossing the country to woo people he considers critical to his ambition. Yesterday, he visited Ile-Ife to seek the prayers of Yoruba Obas. A few of them obliged him at the palace of the Ooni of Ife.