President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja on Monday, September 4, 2017 for a trip to Washington, DC. Mr. Buhari’s trip to the US is at the invitation of President Donald Trump, with a Nigerian Presidency source telling our correspondent that Mr. Trump extended the invitation last February, shortly after his inauguration.

Mr. Buhari is scheduled to leave his hometown, Daura, by helicopter at 9:15 am on Monday for Katsina airport. From the airport, he will fly out at 10 am aboard a presidential jet to Washington, DC.

A source at the Presidency revealed that the earlier plan was for Mr. Buhari to combine the official visit to the US with his participation at the UN General Assembly in New York from September 21 to 25, 2017.

Another Presidency insider said there was some anxiety within Aso Rock that the trip may turn out to have a medical tone.