Faulty aircraft forces Shettima to abort US trip mid air

Vice President Kashim Shettima has been forced to abort his scheduled trip to the United States to represent President Bola Tinubu due to technical fault on his aircraft.

His spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, confirmed in a statement on Monday that the presidential aircraft, which had been airborne with the vice president onboard, was forced to make a detour on the advice of the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF).

Shettima had left the country to represent President Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa in Dallas, Texas.

According to a statement earlier issued by Nkwocha on Sunday, the vice president would have joined

other political and business leaders across Africa, the US States and beyond for the summit featuring high-level dialogues, networking business sessions and the plenary, all scheduled for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

It informed that among African leaders expected at the summit include, Joseph Boakai, President, Republic of Liberia; Lazarus Chakwera, President, Republic of Malawi; Joao Lourenço, President, Republic of Angola; Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi, President, Republic of Botswana; José Maria Neves, President, Republic of Cabo Verde, and Hon. Nthomeng Majara, Deputy Prime Minister, Kingdom of Lesotho.

Besides the summit plenary, Shettima was also scheduled to speak at the Roundtable on African Infrastructure Investment with a focus on impact and returns. He is also scheduled to speak on a high-level panel on agribusiness, focusing on transiting “from food insecurity to thriving agribusinesses”.

Additionally, the vice president 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.

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Other engagements he was supposed to have were meetings on the sideline of the summit.

The spokesman disclosed that Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, will now represent the Pres at the summit.

“Vice President Kashim Shettima who was originally scheduled to represent the President was unable to make the trip following a technical fault with his aircraft, forcing him to make a detour on the advice of the Presidential Air Fleet,” the statement said.

It added that the vice president, who is back in the country, “will carry on with other national duties.”