Kehinde Fajobi
Vice President Kashim Shettima’s trip to Samoa for the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was cancelled after a foreign object struck his plane during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York.
A statement from Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, late Wednesday confirmed that, “the foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of the plane.”
In response, “President Tinubu, acting promptly, has approved a ministerial delegation to represent Nigeria at the summit in the Samoa capital of Apia while the plane’s repair has commenced,” Onanuga’s statement read.
The newly appointed delegation, led by Minister of Environment Balarabe Abass Lawal, will represent Nigeria at the summit, which began on 21 October and is set to conclude on 26 October.
The statement also confirmed that “Vice President Shettima and Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar have left New York for Nigeria.”