Buhari returns to Nigeria after South Korea trip

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to Abuja after a six-day visit to South Korea for the First World Bio Summit 2022.

The President arrived 6am at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

He was received at the Abuja airport by two governors, top government officials and security chiefs.

They are governors of Katsina and Niger states; Aminu Bello Masari and Abubakar Sani Bello; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

Others are the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba; the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi and some other senior military and other security officials.

While in Seoul, South Korean capital, President Buhari delivered a speech to the summit! held consultations and bilateral/diplomatic meetings with the South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol, and the Speaker of the country’s National Assembly, Mr Kim Jin-Pyo, among others.

The President seized the opportunity to call for an expansion of the Nigeria/South Korea trade relations, during his meeting with Suk-yeol. He with some South Korean investors; witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the rehabilitation of the Kaduna Refinery between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Daewoo Group.

He also met with representatives of the Nigerian community in the country, urging them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria.

Nigeria was invited to the summit based on her selection with five other African countries by WHO and the European Union (EU) during the last EU-African Summit in Brussels, Belgium, in February this year for mRNA technology transfer and Global Training Hub for Bio-manufacturing of vaccines on the African continent.

Those who accompanied the President on the journey are Governors Aminu Bello Masari and Abubakar Sani Bello of Katsina and Niger states; Geoffrey Onyeama, Osagie Ehanire and Adeniyi Adebayo, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Health, Industry, Trade and Investment respectively; and Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

Others on the delegation are Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd), National Security Adviser; Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, Director-General, National Intelligence Agency; Prof. Moji Adeyeye, Director-General, NAFDAC; Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, Director-General, NCDC; Bashir Jamoh, Director-General, NIMASA; Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman, NiDCOM as well as other top government officials.