President returns to Abuja, observes Friday Prayer

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to Abuja after two-day working visit to Plateau, and joined hundreds of Muslim faithful to perform the weekly Juma’at prayer at the Aso Rock Mosque.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that among those who joined the president to observe the prayer were the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Alhaji Ahmed Rufa’I and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura.

The President had earlier on Friday in Jos inaugurated the Plateau State Tractor Ownership Scheme as part of activities to mark the end of his working visit to the state.

The scheme has a tripartite arrangement, in which the beneficiaries would pay 60 per cent of the total cost while state and local governments would pay 30 and 10 per cent balance respectively.

The tractors were supplied at the cost of N1.4 million each.

Also, in the course of his two-day official visit to the state, President Buhari had on Thursday at a Town Hall meeting inaugurated the Plateau State Roadmap to Peace, and congratulated the Gov. Simon Lalong for uniting the people of the state.

He restated his commitment to arrest the cycle of violence that had engulfed some parts of the country.

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He said: “I wish to encourage your Excellency to continue with the good work you are doing, and I wholeheartedly congratulate you for uniting the people of Plateau State.

“I am indeed quite impressed with gains and successes recorded in the area of conflict management and peace-building, which has returned this state to the path of relative peace.

“Let me express the Federal Government’s commitment to support and assist the Peace Building Agency in its effort to arrest the vicious cycle of violence and lay the foundation for sustainable peace in our country.”

NAN observed that among the inaugurated projects by President Buhari during the visit were the Mararaba Jamaa–Secretariat –British American Way, the Miango-Rafiki road, and the Secretariat junction flyover bridge

Gov. Lalong on Thursday, also named part of the Mararaba Jama’a road, constructed at the cost of N10.6 billion, as Muhammadu Buhari Way.