Nigeria’s delegation to the Russia-Africa Summit differed from an earlier plan identifying Vice President Kashim Shettima as its head, with Premium Times reporting that a minister of state represented the country at the Moscow summit.
Premium Times reported Oct. 29 that Sola Enikanolaiye, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, represented Nigeria. The outlet said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Shettima and Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu were absent from the gathering.
Nigeria’s ambassador to Russia, Joseph Olusola Iji, told TASS on Oct. 7 that Shettima would lead the delegation. His interview came before the summit’s scheduled opening in Moscow on Oct. 28.
Magnus Eze, spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, told Premium Times that Odumegwu-Ojukwu had another commitment and Enikanolaiye attended in her place. Premium Times said it had not received an explanation from the Presidency for Shettima’s reported absence.
The official program identified the gathering as the third Russia-Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum, scheduled for Oct. 28-29 in Moscow. Its business schedule listed sessions on economic cooperation, trade, investment and technology.
EconoTimes previously reported that the accompanying forum program was set to include more than 40 sessions and about 100 speakers. Other listed topics included education, science, skills transfer and health care.
At the previous summit in St. Petersburg in 2023, Nigeria’s State House said Shettima would represent Tinubu. The summit series began in Sochi in 2019, and the summit site and Egyptian Presidency said leaders agreed to hold the meetings every three years. EconoTimes has also covered Sudan’s planned delegation led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Putin said an action plan for the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum covering 2027-2029 was due to be adopted after the summit on Oct. 29.
