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 foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of the plane.
Shettima departed Abuja last Sunday for the gathering at the behest of President Bola Tinubu.
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, according to a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser, Bayo Onanuga on Thursday.
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.
Mr. Shettima was scheduled to join King Charles of England and other world leaders from 56 member countries at the first CHOGM to be held in the Pacific island of Apia, Samoa, from October 21 to 26.
Vice President Shettima and foreign minister Yusuf Tuggar have left New York for Nigeria.
