President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigeria will stand with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in line with several resolutions of the African Union (AU) on the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence.
Presidential spokesman Mr Femi Adesina quoted Buhari as saying this at the State House in Abuja on Friday while receiving Mohammed Salem Ould Salek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of SADR.
Buhari assured Salek, who visited as Special Envoy of President Mohammed Abdelaziz of SADR, that outstanding issues on self-determination for the country would be scrupulously attended to.
“The issue first came up when I was in office as military head of state. After I left government, Nigeria remained steadfast on it. In my maiden outing at the UN General Assembly last September, the issue of Sahrawi was in my speech.
“You have no cause to doubt our commitment. We stand with our African Union colleagues on this issue. Nigeria will maintain focus till everything is finally resolved positively”, President Buhari said.
Salek stated that his country would never forget the role Nigeria and its then military head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, played in recognising his country in 1984 when it sought self-determination from Morocco.
“It paved the way for the UN to adopt several key resolutions on Western Sahara, elaborating a peace plan. History is now repeating itself as you are the president of Nigeria at a time the Sahrawi issue is being put on the front burner again”, Salek told Buhari.
Salek noted that his country needed a special push from Nigeria again as it received in 1984, in order “to accelerate matters”.
The special envoy emphasised that Nigeria helped a lot of African countries achieve independence, saying SADR is the only pending matter on the continent.
Since its inception, the SADR has been recognised by over 80 countries around the world, and in 1984 it became a full member of the OAU and is a founding member of the AU.
