Niger president’s visit to Nigeria postponed

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will not be welcoming his Nigerien counterpart to Abuja today as the visit has been postponed without a new date being announced, Mr Buhari’s office says.

In a short statement, Mr Buhari’s spokesperson Femi Adesina, says that Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou “has another domestic engagement”.

But the postponement comes at a time of increasing concerns in Nigeria about President Buhari’s health.

He has not been seen in public for more than a week and has missed the last three cabinet meetings.

Earlier this week, the president’s wife Aisha Buhari said he was not as ill as people perceived him to be.

In March, Mr Buhari returned from seven weeks of medical leave in the UK where he was treated for an undisclosed illness.