March 20, 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday congratulated German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on her re-election for another term.

Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said in a statement in Abuja that Buhari’s congratulatory message was contained in a letter to the German leader.

The President said he was delighted to learn of the successful conclusion of the inter-Party negotiations to form a new government after the last election in Germany.

He told Merkel that the victory was “a testimony of her hard-work, competence and trust of the German people and qualities which are much admired in many parts of the world, especially here in Africa.

“We greatly value your humanity and concern for refugees.

“The Nigerian leader, on behalf of the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, wished his German counterpart and her new cabinet a successful new term of office.

“We look forward to greater cooperation between the two countries as we strive to confront shared challenges.’’

Merkel had on Wednesday agreed to a deal to form a new coalition government in Germany four months after “suffering damaging losses in elections’’.

She reached an agreement with her former coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), after her first attempt to form a coalition failed in Sept. 2017.

Political commentators observed that the coalition deal came at a significant cost to Mrs Merkel, who had to relinquish control of the three great ministries of state and agreed to a number of demands from her coalition partners.