Mali Crisis: Buhari departs for Bamako on one-day official visit

... First time President will leave the country in 5 months

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday depart for Bamako, Republic of Mali, on a one-day visit.

This will be the president’s first trip out of the country after Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 case on February 27.

The president’s last known trip abroad was on February 7 when he travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the 33rd ordinary session of heads of state and government of the African Union.

In a statement on Wedenesday, Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said the trip to Mali follows the briefing of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, special envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Mali.