FILE PHOTO: Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu speaks after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria May 29, 2023.  REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
Nigeria

Nigeria's Tinubu to discuss Niger crisis with Biden in New York

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu will meet U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu will meet U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month, his spokesman said on Saturday.

The U.N. general assembly is scheduled for Sept. 18 to 26 in New York.

Presidency spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement Tinubu had accepted the invitation, which was delivered by U.S. presidential envoy and assistant secretary of state for African affairs Molly Phee.

The two leaders are likely to discuss the situation in Niger where Tinubu, who chairs the regional bloc ECOWAS, is working with other heads of government in West Africa to find a solution after a military junta seized power.

Tinubu, who has embarked on Nigeria's boldest reforms in decades, has called for more U.S. investment in his country and greater cooperation for the defence of democracy in West Africa, amid rising coup incidents in the region.

(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Christina Fincher)

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