The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri –Erewa has finally addressed reports faulting Garba Shehu’s statement that Buhari was the first African president to visit Donald Trump at the White house.
Garba Shehu, Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, had claimed that the president’s visit to Trump will be the first from an “African head of government.”
He had said in a statement: “He (Buhari) is the first African head of government to visit the Trump White House and this is a pointer to two important things. One is, no matter how Nigerians take our own country, this is hugely an important country and this recognition is being manifested in this visit.
However, his statement was countered by the former presidential aide, Reno Omokri who argued that Trump had hosted Egyptian President, Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi at the White House.
Dabiri, reacting to the controversies surrounding the statement online said Buhari is the first president from Sub-Sahara Africa.
On her Twitter page, she wrote “For the records. Not that it matters. Out of 54 countries, 48 are classified as being in sub-Saharan Africa. Egypt, Djibouti etc are NOT.
“PMB is first President from sub-Saharan Africa to visit White-house under Trump. Not a big deal at all but facts are sacred.”
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