President Muhammadu Buhari would be departing Abuja for Malian capital, Bamako, any time soon as regional powers continue to search for peace in the crisis-ridden nation.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said the journey followed the debriefing the President received on Tuesday from former President Goodluck Jonathan on the situation in Mali.
The New Diplomat had reported that Jonathan met with Buhari at the Aso Villa, debriefing him on ECOWAS efforts to restore peace in Mali.
Jonathan, an ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali, was at State House, Abuja, in company of President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou.
Adesina in a statement on Wednesday said, “President Muhammadu Buhari will Thursday depart for Bamako, Republic of Mali on a one-day visit, following the briefing by the ECOWAS Special Envoy to the country, former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The Nigerian President and some ECOWAS leaders led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the sub-regional organisation, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country.
“Host President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Presidents Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire are expected to participate in the Bamako meeting.
“Former President Jonathan was at the State House in company with President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, on Tuesday to brief President Buhari on the unfolding situation in Mali, necessitating the visit of ECOWAS leaders to consolidate on the agreements reached by various parties.”
Protesters have been asking President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who has only spent two out of the five years second term in office to step down.
A resistance group, M5, is insisting that the Constitutional Court must be dissolved, and the President resign, before peace can return to the country.
Crisis had erupted after the court nullified results of 31 parliamentary seats in the polls held recently, awarding victory to some other contenders, which the resistance group said was at the instigation of President Keita.
Riots on July 10 had led to the killing of some protesters by security agents, causing the crisis to spiral out of control, hence the intervention by ECOWAS.
