President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria, on the death of the country’s former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The President, in a statement Saturday by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, also commiserated with the family of the former President and the Algerian people as they mourned the loss of the “remarkable leader” who ruled the country for 20 years.
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President Buhari said Bouteflika, as a veteran in the civil war that led to Algeria’s independence, Foreign Minister, President of the United Nations General Assembly during the 1974-1975 sessions and political leader, made significant contributions to the development of his country.
On the African front, he said Bouteflika was a true Pan-Africanist and his legacy of securing the Algiers Peace Treaty between Eritrea and Ethiopia and supporting peace efforts in the Africa Great Lakes region would not be forgotten.
The President prayed for the peaceful repose of the soul of the departed and comfort for the Algerian people in their period of grief.
Reuters reported Bouteflika died at 84 on Friday, as announced by the Algerian Presidency, more than two years after he stepped down under pressure from mass protests and the army.
Bouteflika, a veteran of Algeria’s war for independence, had ruled the North African country for two decades before his resignation in April 2019 after street demonstrations rejecting his plan to seek a fifth term.
He had rarely been seen in public before his departure since a stroke in 2013.
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