*Administration of Barack Obama, 2015 *

**Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and an Exchange With Reporters **

*July 20, 2015 *

*President Obama.* Well, it's a great pleasure to welcome President Buhari and his delegation here to the Oval Office for his first visit since the historic election that took place.

Nigeria is obviously one of the important countries in the world and one of the most important countries in the African Continent. Recently, we saw an election in which a peaceful transition to a new Government took place. And it was an affirmation of Nigeria's commitment to democracy, a recognition that although Nigeria is a big country and a diverse country with many different parts, nevertheless, the people of Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful political process can change take place.

President Buhari comes into office with a reputation for integrity and a very clear agenda, and that is to make sure that he is being—bringing safety and security and peace to his country. He's very concerned about the spread of Boko Haram and the violence that's taken place there and the atrocities that they've carried out and has a very clear agenda in defeating Boko Haram and extremism of all sorts inside of his country. And he has a very clear agenda with respect to rooting out the corruption that too often has held back the economic growth and prosperity of his country.

On both these issues, we're looking forward to hearing more about his plans and how the United States can partner with Nigeria so that Nigeria ends up being an anchor not only of prosperity and stability in the eastern part of the continent, but can also be an outstanding role model for developing countries around the world.

And we very much look forward to talking about security issues, how we can cooperate on counterterrorism. We're looking forward to discussing how we can be helpful in addressing some of the corruption issues that have held Nigeria back and unleashing the incredible talent of the Nigerian people. We all recognize that some of the best businesspeople in the world are from Nigeria, and they thrive as they travel to other countries, but we want to make sure that they're also helping folks thrive in Nigeria.

We're also going to have an opportunity to talk about some of the other areas where Nigeria has taken leadership: in public health issues, fighting tragedies like Ebola. Nigeria has an outstanding track record of working with us to eradicate polio, and that gives us a framework and a template to continue to work on public health issues throughout the western part of Africa, as well as throughout the subcontinent.

We'll have a chance to talk about issues of climate change, electrification. As many of you know, Power Africa is one of our top priorities, making sure that we're electrifying the continent so that it can grow faster and more people have access to the power that they need.

So we've got a busy agenda, but I want to emphasize how much I appreciate President Buhari's work so far. I'm looking forward to seeing him put together his team so that we can do everything that we can to help him succeed and help the people of Nigeria succeed. Because if they're successful and doing well, that will have a ripple effect not only in West Africa, but throughout the world. So thank you very much.

Mr. President. Thank you.

*President Buhari.* Nigeria will remain ever grateful to President Obama and the United States for backing Nigeria to consolidate its gains on a democratic system. The visit of the Secretary of State, when he visited Nigeria to see the President, the former President of Nigeria, see the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission for Nigeria, and saw the operation was very clear and a positive trend that saw us through for this credible election we had.

And the maintenance of pressure by United States, mainly, and Europe, to make sure that the elections were free, fair, and credible led us to where we are now. It would have been almost impossible if United States did not maintain the pressure on the former Nigerian Government, that they would not accept anything less constituted as far as the processes of the election are concerned. We will ever remain grateful to you because other than the—other three fundamental objectives that our party identified, the All Nigeria People's Congress, on that—security, economy, the employment especially of youth, and then fighting corruption.

We are extremely happy that United States had made it absolutely clear well before the elections that they are prepared to help Nigeria in this aspect. And this is why I am here, and I am very grateful for the invitation Mr. President extended to me.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

*President Obama.* Thank you so much.

*Multilateral Agreement To Prevent Iran From Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon *

*Q. *Mr. President, the Security Council approved the deal. Will that help you in Congress?

*President Obama.* I think it will send a clear message that the overwhelming number of countries who not only participated in the deal, the P-5-plus-1, but who have observed what's happened, recognize that this is by far our strongest approach to ensuring that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. There is broad international consensus around this issue, not just among the international community, but also among experts in nuclear proliferation. And my working assumption is, is that Congress will pay attention to the broad-based consensus. All right?

Thank you very much, everybody.

NOTE: The President spoke at 11:14 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, President Buhari referred to former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria; and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission for Nigeria Attahiru Muhammadu Jega.

*Categories:* Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: White House; Meetings With Foreign Leaders and International Officials : Nigeria, President Buhari*.*

*Locations: *Washington, DC.

*Names:* Buhari, Muhammadu*.*

*Subjects:* Africa : West Africa, Ebola epidemic, response and containment efforts; Environment : Climate change; Iran : International diplomatic efforts; Iran : Nuclear weapons development; Nigeria : Boko Haram terrorist organization; Nigeria : Corruption issues; Nigeria : Democracy efforts; Nigeria : Economic growth and development; Nigeria : President; Nigeria : Presidential election; Nigeria : Relations with U.S.; Nigeria : Security cooperation with U.S.; Terrorism : Counterterrorism efforts.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201500509.