Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will not attend the African Union summit in Rwanda this week, an official statement said Sunday, in a blow to plans to launch a major free trade treaty across 54 countries.
The meeting in Kigali is intended to formally launch the African Continental Free Trade Area Treaty, which Nigeria’s cabinet endorsed last Wednesday.
Buhari was scheduled to leave Abuja on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s launch but pulled out to allow for more consultations.
“Mr President will no longer be travelling to Kigali for the event because certain key stakeholders in Nigeria indicated that they had not been consulted, for which reasons they had some concerns on the provisions of the treaty,” the statement said.
Source: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2018-03-18-nigeria-skips-african-summit-in-blow-to-free-trade-deal/