The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), met with former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

Jonathan who arrived at the Villa about 03:00 pm was received by the President into a closed-door meeting.

Although the details of the meeting remain undisclosed, it is likely connected to his work as Special Envoy of the Economic Community of West African States where he is leading mediation talks even as Mali remains under military rule following the August 2020 coup that ousted President Ibrahim Keita.

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On Monday, December 27, Mali’s military-dominated government launched a four-day national forum on returning the country to civilian rule.

The forum, according to Mali’s transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goita, “will make an unflinching assessment of the state of the nation and draw the best lessons from it”.

Jonathan, who is also part of the West African Elders Forum, was in The Gambia three weeks ago to curtail election-related crises, as Gambians voted in the country’s December 4, 2021, presidential election.