President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday (today) barely 24 hours after his inauguration for second term in office.

The Presidency said on Wednesday that Mr Buhari would be in Makkah to attend Summit of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

“The 14th session of the Summit Conference of OIC, scheduled to hold on Friday, May 31, will be hosted by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and attended by Heads of State and governments of member states.

“According to OIC secretariat, the summit to be convened under the theme, ‘Makkah al-Mukarramah Summit: Hand in Hand toward the Future’, seeks to develop a unified stance on events in the Islamic world.

“Buhari is expected to address the forum and underscore the need for member countries to unite and work together to combat common challenges such as terrorism and violent extremism.

“The President will also push forward themes that have been at the forefront of his domestic and international priorities, including reviving the Lake Chad Basin, investing in Nigeria to create jobs and financing for development,” a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said.

As part of his schedules outside the summit, the Presidency said Buhari would hold bilateral meetings with some world leaders to discuss issues of mutual interest.

“On the delegation are Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mustapha Suleiman; Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Mr Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar; Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, Mr Isa Pantami; and Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Mr Abdullahi Mukthar,” the statement added.

Punch