Obama To Send High-Powered Delegation To Buhari’s Handover Ceremony
International interest has risen in Nigeria’s political transition and the planned transfer of power from the Jonathan-Sambo presidency to the Buhari-Osinbajo presidency billed May 29, as President Barack Obama now considers sending a high-powered delegation to the event Premium Times reports.
President Barack Obama
U.S. government sources say that President Obama is considering who might lead the American representatives at the event.
Three names are already being mentioned in official US and diplomatic circles including Obama’s wife, the American First Lady, Michelle, Vice President Joe Biden and the Secretary of State, John Kerry, as the head of the presidential delegation.
From the U.S. Congress also, some of the senior members are said to be planning to attend the event including the Chairman of the US House of Representatives Sub Committee on Africa, Congressman Chris Smith.
The U.S. President normally announces a delegation to the presidential inaugurations of friendly nations being led by the Ambassador in that country. But in rare occasions, he picks very senior public officials as the head of delegation when he wants to underscore and emphasis a point of how the US highly regards the country or the circumstances at a given point in time.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ade Adefuye, confirmed to journalists on Wednesday that he has also been told that a very senior member of the U.S. government is expected to lead the delegation, but that there was no confirmation yet.
He said, “I have been told that there would be an unusually large American delegation that will attend the presidential inauguration on May 29.”
The Nigerian Ambassador said he has been in consultations with the U.S. State Department on the matter, adding that President Goodluck Jonathan has already extended an invitation to the U.S. government.
“We are following up with the US government to ensure a very large US presence at the inauguration,” the Ambassador said Tuesday in Washington DC.
Adefuye explained that “Nigeria’s profile has been on the rise since after the election, the concession by Jonathan, and with the smooth transition that is going on”.
From the U.S. government to the business sectors and think tanks, the level of excitement about the anticipated peaceful transfer of power in Nigeria and the outcome of the elections itself producing the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket from an opposition party, All Progressive Congress (APC), has been quite widespread.
Some of the U.S. groups that have been showing keen interest to attend the inauguration and pressuring the U.S. government to send a very high-powered delegation are the Atlantic Council, and the Constituency for Africa-groups known to be very influential in Washington DC.
It was reported earlier that President Barack Obama ordered the release of $35 million worth of U.S. military and defence assistance to France which has been backing the military of Chad, Niger and Mali in the fight against jihadist group, ignoring Nigeria for the second time who has been waging war against Boko Haram’s five-year insurgency.
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