JUST IN: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Leaves Nigeria

Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo will today, Friday, November 9th, 2019 depart Nigeria to represent President Muhammadu Buhari in Niger, where an Extraordinary ECOWAS summit is holding to review the ongoing situation in Guinea Bissau.

This was disclosed by Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity.

Akande made the announcement on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, Twitter.

“VP Osinbajo to represent President Buhari today in Niger where an Extraordinary ECOWAS summit is holding to review the ongoing situation in Guinea Bissau. He will depart Abuja this morning and return later today,” he tweeted.

There has been call for restraint and dialogue to end the latest political crisis in that West African country.

Guinea-Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz triggered the latest escalation in an ongoing power struggle with the ruling PAIGC (African Party of the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) party, of which he was once a member.

He recently sacked Prime Minister Aristides Gomes and named a replacement from a minority political party.

But Gomes has refused to step down, escalating tensions ahead of an already delayed presidential election scheduled for November 24.

The 15-nation West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, called Gomes’ firing “illegal.”