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Mugabe in Abuja to witness President Jonathan take his oath of office
06 Jun 2011 at 13:11hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Mugabe arrived in Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday to attend the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan set for today.
Mugabe is accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, and senior Government officials.
He was seen off at the Harare International Airport by Vice-President John Nkomo, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, and service chiefs.
President Mugabe is expected to join up to 20 other leaders in witnessing President Jonathan take his oath of office to lead Africa's most populous nation.
The inauguration coincides with Nigeria's Democracy Day commemorations. Also invited to attend the inauguration are the 20 other presidential election candidates from the April 16 poll.
The chairman of the inauguration ceremonies committee and secretary to the government of the (Nigerian) federation, Mr Yayale Ahmed, told the media that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was expecting 15 to 20 heads of state for the inauguration ceremony.
"We have invited all the 69 political parties or thereabouts; these also include those that contested the presidential election with President Goodluck Jonathan.
"They are all free to join us in the celebrations, especially as the day also marks the Democracy Day in Nigeria," he said.
However, there are major concerns in Abuja after bomb explosions marred the nation's 50th independence anniversary celebrations on October 1 last year.
"Security arrangements have been adequately taken care of as we are not unmindful of the occurrences during the 50th independence anniversary. Of course, things about security are mostly unpredictable but as the inauguration is coming up all the security agencies have been put on alert.
"As the chairman of the inauguration committee, I would say I am satisfied with the security arrangement for the event. But there are certain things I cannot disclose about the security arrangement here," said Mr Ahmed.
Nigeria's presidential elections, which were expected to be held on April 9, were postponed to April 16.
President Jonathan assumed the interim presidency following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua last year. President Jonathan was declared winner in the election on April 19 after garnering a massive 22 million votes ahead of former army general and military ruler General Muhammad Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The presidential poll was initially expected to be held in January but was postponed to April after the election commission requested more time to overhaul the national electoral register.
The commission said it also needed to release new electronic voter registration software.
Despite some isolated bombings, the election was reported to have run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections.
Mugabe is accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, and senior Government officials.
He was seen off at the Harare International Airport by Vice-President John Nkomo, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, and service chiefs.
President Mugabe is expected to join up to 20 other leaders in witnessing President Jonathan take his oath of office to lead Africa's most populous nation.
The inauguration coincides with Nigeria's Democracy Day commemorations. Also invited to attend the inauguration are the 20 other presidential election candidates from the April 16 poll.
The chairman of the inauguration ceremonies committee and secretary to the government of the (Nigerian) federation, Mr Yayale Ahmed, told the media that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was expecting 15 to 20 heads of state for the inauguration ceremony.
"We have invited all the 69 political parties or thereabouts; these also include those that contested the presidential election with President Goodluck Jonathan.
"They are all free to join us in the celebrations, especially as the day also marks the Democracy Day in Nigeria," he said.
"Security arrangements have been adequately taken care of as we are not unmindful of the occurrences during the 50th independence anniversary. Of course, things about security are mostly unpredictable but as the inauguration is coming up all the security agencies have been put on alert.
"As the chairman of the inauguration committee, I would say I am satisfied with the security arrangement for the event. But there are certain things I cannot disclose about the security arrangement here," said Mr Ahmed.
Nigeria's presidential elections, which were expected to be held on April 9, were postponed to April 16.
President Jonathan assumed the interim presidency following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua last year. President Jonathan was declared winner in the election on April 19 after garnering a massive 22 million votes ahead of former army general and military ruler General Muhammad Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The presidential poll was initially expected to be held in January but was postponed to April after the election commission requested more time to overhaul the national electoral register.
The commission said it also needed to release new electronic voter registration software.
Despite some isolated bombings, the election was reported to have run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections.
Source - Byo24News
