Vice President Kashim Shettima’s trip to Samoa to represent Nigeria at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads Of Government Summit has been cancelled after a foreign object hit his plane during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York, the presidency said Thursday night.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the foreign object that hit the plane damaged its cockpit windscreen.
“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,” Mr Onanuga said.
“The delegation, which will now represent Nigeria at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, is being led by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abass Lawal.
“The summit began on the Pacific island on 21 October. It will end on 26 October.
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“Vice President Shettima and foreign minister Yusuf Tuggar have left New York for Nigeria.”
It is the second time in five months that Mr Shettima would cancel an official trip due to plane problem.
In early May, the Vice President shelved 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 aircraft.
Stanley Nkwocha, Mr Shettima’s media aide, said at the time that the VP was forced to make a detour on the advice of the Presidential Air Fleet.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, was then drafted in to represent President Tinubu at the event.
But for the cancellation of that trip, Mr Shettima would have spoken at a plenary session on Navigating Africa’s Energy Future as well as chair a session dedicated to promoting the ‘invest in Nigeria’ initiative.
The VP was also scheduled to attend other meetings and engagements on the sideline of the summit.
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