Minister restates FG’s commitment to strong defence partnerships

The Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Muhammed Matawalle, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s building solid partnerships with reliable defence partners towards addressing the nation’s security challenges. 

According to a statement made available to Defence Correspondents in Abuja on Thursday by Queeneth Iheoma-Hart 

For the director, Information and Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, the minister stated this while speaking at the official opening ceremony of the just-concluded five-day exhibition. 

SAHA Expo 2026, the global defence and aerospace exhibition held in Istanbul from 5th to 9th May 2026.

It stated that the five-day exhibition attracted over 1,700 companies, including 263 international firms, and more than 30,000 industry professionals from over 120 countries.

According to it, Dr Matawalle and his delegation attended the official opening ceremony alongside the Special Guest of Honour, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye; Türkiye’s Minister of National Defence, Yaşar Güler; and other senior representatives.

The statement further added that the Minister and his delegation visited exhibition booths of prospective defence partners, including Nigeria’s indigenous Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), and also held strategic meetings with key international stakeholders, including Vugar Mustafayev, Minister of defence industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The meeting, attended by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal S.K. Aneke, focused on advancing the operational capacity of the Armed Forces of Nigeria through strategic partnerships with DICON and other global defence firms, the statement added.

It stated that the SAHA Expo 2026 Chairman, Haluk Bayraktar, formally inaugurated the exhibition, describing it as “a meeting point for minds that will dominate technology”.