188体育

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

鈥淧rime Minister Theresa May met President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in Abuja today during her three-day visit to Africa.

鈥淭he leaders agreed that the UK and Nigeria are strong partners bilaterally and in the Commonwealth, and that our mutual security and prosperity is strengthened by our close cooperation.

鈥淭he leaders agreed to build on our growing commercial ties, including through a new Economic Development Forum to help us identify and overcome barriers to trade and investment.

鈥淭he PM talked about how the UK will step up investment into Nigeria as part of its ambition to be the G7鈥檚 number one investor in Africa by 2022, including through CDC.

鈥淭he Prime Minister welcomed the progress towards securing a significant investment into oil and gas in Bonga South West, and reiterated the importance of the President鈥檚 continued leadership in securing the final agreement.

鈥淣igeria鈥檚 stability matters to the UK, and the work we鈥檙e doing together to tackle shared threats helps to keep our people safe. Today the leaders witnessed the signing of the first UK-Nigeria security and defence partnership which will formalise and expand this cooperation.

鈥淭hey also discussed the importance of human rights and the need to ensure our joint work on security is in line with international standards.

鈥淭he Prime Minister welcomed Nigeria鈥檚 efforts at a national and regional level to combat illegal migration and human trafficking, and their support for the Call to Action to end modern slavery which was launched by the PM at UNGA last year.

鈥淪he thanked President Buhari for championing this agenda, including through his chairing of the Economic Community of West African States and his commitment to use Nigeria鈥檚 influence to promote African leadership on these issues.

鈥淔inally, the leaders discussed Nigeria鈥檚 forthcoming elections and agreed they must be fair, credible and peaceful, and free from interference.

鈥淭he Prime Minister and President agreed to continue working in partnership to ensure our bilateral relationship and regional cooperation go from strength to strength in the years ahead.鈥�