President Buhari says Nigeria will fulfil financial obligation to AU

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday promised that Nigeria will fulfil its financial obligation to the African Union, particularly on programmes and operations aimed at ensuring durable peace, stability and security on the continent.

He gave the assurance while receiving the AU Envoy on the Peace Fund, Dr Donald Kaberuka, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that supporting peace operations, under the auspices of the AU, in several countries affected by conflict remained a foreign policy priority of his administration.

Despite competing priorities on security and the economic downturn in the country, the President assured the AU envoy that Nigeria will also play a central role in seeking the European Union and the United Nations to strengthen their support for crisis-prone African countries.

He used the occasion of the visit to weigh-in on the situation in South Sudan, appealing for peace and calm in the country.

He said: “What is happening in South Sudan is extremely disturbing and it is a very dicey situation. The AU leadership has a crucial role in stabilizing the country and other African countries on the brink.

“What we can do urgently to stabilize South Sudan is very important as African leaders meet in Kigali, Rwanda this month and later in September at the UN.”

In his remarks, Kaberuka said funding AU-led peace support operations, which had remained a challenge for member-countries, was further compounded early this year when the EU cut its allocation to the AU Mission in Somalia by 20 per cent.

Kaberuka said the AU summit in Kigali is expected to agree on a roadmap of alternative financing for AU-led peace support operations, including a proposal for African nations to fund 25 per cent of the Fund’s budget while UN contributes the balance.