Foreign Affairs Ministry ignores leaked memo, says Tinubu undertakes visit to Qatar

Foreign Affairs Ministry ignores leaked memo, says Tinubu undertakes visit to Qatar

Joel Oladele, Abuja

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refused to comment on the recent diplomatic paper  insinuating that the Qatari authorities have snubbed the Nigerian leader over a business and investment forum which is tangential to the all-important State Visit and which President Bola Tinubu is slated to attend as a guest.

In a statement signed by the Spokesperson by Francisca K. Omayuli on Sunday, she noted that the President will proceed on the visit as scheduled in a bid to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) will embark on a State Visit to Qatar from 2nd – 3rd March, 2024 to further cement the excellent relations existing between the two countries.

“During the visit, discussions will be held at the highest level, on a wide range of bilateral and economic issues.

“The President will be accompanied on the trip by the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar (OON), among some other Ministers and top government officials.

“The Ministry is aware of the circulation of a diplomatic correspondence on the social media and wishes to state that it will not comment on leaks,” the statement read.

In a related development, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Saturday clarified that the “note verbale” in circulation is about a business and investment forum billed to be held during the president’s state visit to Qatar”

Onanuga added that the memo addresses “a private sector-led business and investment forum” by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Qatar’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

He said the organisers were only trying “to take advantage of President Tinubu’s visit to Doha to mobilise the business community from our two countries to explore opportunities in key economic sectors”.

“President Tinubu is expected to proceed to Qatar on the State Visit as scheduled, and during the visit, the Nigerian leader will engage in high-level bilateral discussions with the Qatari leader on many important matters, covering the full range of diplomatic and economic issues,” the statement reads.

“It is not correct for anyone to insinuate that the Qatari authorities have snubbed the Nigerian leader over a business and investment forum which is tangential to the all-important State Visit and which President Tinubu is slated to attend as a guest.”

In September 2022, Qatar rejected the planned visit of former President Muhammadu Buhari over the country’s preparation for the 2022 World Cup.

The government of Qatar had asked the federal government to propose a new date for the visit, preferably “during the first quarter of the year 2023”.