The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has marked his 79th birthday with Nigerian delegates in Istanbul, Turkey.

Buhari, alongside a delegation that includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, are in Istanbul to participate in the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit.

The President was surprised with a Nigeria-themed birthday cake that bore the country’s national colours of Green and White shortly before he went straight to chair a planning meeting with officials in his delegation and thereafter drove to the Dolmabahce Palace for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Recep Erdogan.

Reacting to the surprise, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted his principal saying, “I thought that being away from Abuja I will escape these things. The Guards Brigade had written to tell me what they wanted to do on this day. Now here you are doing this far away from home.

“I look forward to the year 2023 when I finish, to go home to take charge of my farm. Between now and that time, I will do the best that is possible to advance the interest of the nation and its people, and carry out my duties as prescribed by the Constitution.”

See the photos below: