Vice President Kashim Shettima’s trip to Samoa to represent Nigeria at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit (CHOGM) was canceled after a foreign object struck his plane’s cockpit windscreen during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York, according to a statement from the presidency on Thursday night,Premium Times reports.
In a statement, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said, “President Tinubu has swiftly approved a ministerial delegation, led by the Minister of Environment Balarabe Abass Lawal, to represent Nigeria at the summit in Samoa’s capital, Apia, as repairs on the Vice President’s aircraft commence.”
The CHOGM summit, which began on October 21 and concludes on October 26, is underway on the Pacific island. Vice President Shettima and Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar have since departed New York for Nigeria.
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This marks the second cancellation of an international trip for Mr. Shettima in five months due to aircraft issues. In early May, he had to call off a planned trip to the United States, where he was scheduled to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit, due to a technical fault with his plane.
At the time, Stanley Nkwocha, Mr. Shettima’s media aide, explained that the Vice President’s trip was postponed based on advice from the Presidential Air Fleet. Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar was subsequently assigned to represent Nigeria at the summit.
Had the May trip proceeded, Mr. Shettima would have spoken on “Navigating Africa’s Energy Future” in a plenary session and chaired a panel promoting the “Invest in Nigeria” initiative, along with participating in other scheduled meetings.
