The President-Elect, Maj. Gen. Mohammadu Buhari(retd.), on Wednesday, received some foreign dignitaries at his temporary residence at the Defence House, Abuja.
Ambassadors of China, Israel, Iran, Morocco and Equatorial Guinea, were among the early callers at the residence.
The Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie, spoke to reporters after emerging from his meeting with Buhari.
He said his meeting with the President-Elect was primarily to convey China’s best wishes and deliver a special message from China’s President as well as discuss issues of mutual interest between the two countries.
Xiaojie said, “We came to present the best wishes and regards from our President and people of China to the President-elect.
“China and Nigeria are going to further our cooperation. As part of our desire for collaboration with Nigeria, I discussed with the President-elect some of the potential areas of investment.
“We plan to invest in such areas like agriculture, infrastructure and other projects that are tailored to impact positively on the lives of the people of Nigeria.
“I have also come to convey a message from the Chinese government that is ready to work with the incoming APC administration headed by Buhari, to further improve on the existing strategic partnership between both countries.
“We want to elevate our relations to a new height and develop it in a mutually beneficial manner, based on what we have achieved in the past decades.”
The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Uriel Palti, also expressed Israel’s preparedness to build upon the existing cordial relationship it has with Nigeria.He said, “There is a kind of new democratic inspiration in Nigeria and all over Africa. The people of Isreal congratulate the president-elect and the Vice President-elect. We hope to continue with the great relationship between Nigeria and Israel.“We discussed the need to continue with the good relationship between the two countries. We didn’t go into specific areas.”
