Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari is set to depart Abuja for Kigali, Rwanda, today, to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held from June 20 to 26, 2022.

At CHOGM 2022, the President will join other world leaders to participate in discussions focused on the progress and prosperity of the more than 2 billion people living in the 54 independent countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific that make up the Commonwealth.

The theme for CHOGM 2022 is ‘Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming,’ and the Heads of Government are expected to reaffirm their commitment to upholding the Commonwealth Charter, which focuses on democracy, human rights, the rule of law, as well as economic opportunities and sustainable development.

Ahead of the biennial meeting, which was due to take place in June 2020 but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Buhari, in an article published in The Telegraph, London, stressed that the Commonwealth can become a real global power with improved collaborations on trade and security, lending weight to each other in international bodies.

The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami.

Others in the President’s entourage are the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar and the Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NidCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The President will return to the country on Sunday, June 26, 2022.