Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Hajiya Kadija Ibrahim Bukar Abba, Buhari and Kaberuka during the visit.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja appealed for peace and calm in South Sudan.

The appeal is contained in a statement issued by Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity in Abuja.

Shehu stated that the President made the appeal when he received the AU Envoy on the Peace Fund, Dr Donald Kaberuka, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President said what was happening in South Sudan was extremely disturbing and a very dicey situation.

He added that the AU leadership had a crucial role in stabilising that country and other African countries on the brink.

Buhari said that “what we can do urgently to stabilise South Sudan is very important as African leaders meet in Kigali, Rwanda this month and later in September at the UN.”

The President pledged that Nigeria would continue to fulfill its financial obligations to the AU to ensure peace, stability and security on the continent.

According to him, supporting peace operations, under the auspices of the AU in several countries affected by conflict remains a foreign policy priority for his administration.

He assured the AU envoy that Nigeria would also play a central role in seeking the EU and the UN to strengthen their support for crisis-prone African countries despite competing priorities on security and the economic downturn in the country.

In his remarks, Kaberuka said funding AU-led peace support operations which had remained a challenge for member-countries was further compounded early this year with the EU cut in its allocation to the AU Mission in Somalia by 20 per cent.

According to him, the AU summit in Kigali is expected to agree on a roadmap of alternative financing for AU-led peace support operations, including a proposal for African nations to fund 25 per cent of the Fund’s budget while UN contributes the balance. (NAN)