President Buhari returns to Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to

Abuja after participating in the 4th meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the ECOWAS Common Currency Programme, in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

The President’s Personal Assistant on Social Media, Bashir Ahmed, confirmed this development on his twitter handle on Tuesday in Abuja.

Member-countries of the ECOWAS Task Force on Common Currency are ‎Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Niger.

In his speech at the meeting, President Buhari had urged the ECOWAS member countries to tread carefully in pushing for a single currency in the sub-region by 2020.

The President drew attention of ECOWAS member countries to the challenges faced by the European Union in realising the same goal.

According to him, the necessary economic fundamentals among countries continue to differ over the years, making it more difficult to pull through with the project by 2020.

“Nigeria advises that we proceed cautiously with the integration agenda, taking into consideration the above concerns and the lessons currently unfolding in the European Union.

“To that end, Nigeria will caution against any position that pushes for a fast-track approach to monetary union, while neglecting fundamentals and other pertinent issues,’’ he said.