Why I Missed Speaking Slot At AU Summit - Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan dismissed reports saying that he went missing at the African Union summit Saturday when he was expected to address a special summit of African Heads of State and Government to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity/African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Jonathan, through his spokesperson Reuben Abati described the reports as untrue, saying he fully participated in the opening ceremony of the session until he went into another hall where he and four other presidents met on the proposed six-lane Lagos-Abidjan Expressway which, which he said is also an important issue for Nigeria.
He said Jonathan attended that meeting alongside the Presidents of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana while their counterparts from Togo and Benin were represented.
He said before leaving the hall for the meeting, Jonathan had directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, to read his prepared statement "and the minister did just that."
"It is perfectly normal for presidents to meet on the sidelines of any international meeting, and as the AU plenary went on, many presidents stepped out to hold bilateral meetings and returned to the hall," he said.