President Buhari in Germany on Thursday 13 October 2016President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his planned visit to Bauchi state due to poor weather conditions.
Mr. Buhari’s aircraft could not take off from Abuja airport because visibility was below 300 metres due to a cruel harmattan haze, said Shamsuddeen Lukman Abubakar, a spokesman to Bauchi state government.
Part of the activities lined up was the opening of the Nigerian Air Force Base, the commissioning of the 60 bed standard Air Force hospital, and other projects, Abubakar said in a statement below.
The Harmattan is a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind which blows from the Sahara Desert over the West African subcontinent into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March. The name comes from or is related to Ga haramata.
Bauchi state press release
President Muhammadu Buhari was scheduled to pay a visit to Bauchi State today. Part of the activities lined up was the opening of the Nigerian Air Force Base, the commissioning of the 60 bed standard Air Force hospital, and other projects. The President however postponed the visit this morning on the inability for aircrafts to take off from Abuja airport. It is reported that as at this morning, visibility was below 300m due to the harmattan haze.
Speaking to the press, Gov. Abubakar said the visit will be rescheduled. He told Bauchi indigenes that the weather condition have restricted air transportation in the country’s capital. He thanked the great people of Bauchi for turning out en masse to welcome Mr. President stating that the visit will become a reality soonest.
In a recorded broadcast made available during the press briefing by the President’s media aide, President Buhari told journalists that his inability to make the trip was due to poor weather conditions, caused by poor visibility. He reiterated that Bauchi remains his second home, and look forward to coming soon.
Prior to this, activities to receive Mr. President have been in top gear. Top Presidential aides were already in the state days before the visit.The President was coming on the invitation of the Nigerian Air Force to open the new Air Force base Bauchi. However, the state government decided to take advantage of the visit to properly host the President and show him Bauchi’s hospitality.
Shamsuddeen Lukman Abubakar
SA Communications to his Excellency the Governor of Bauchi State
29/12/2016