The Canadian embassy in Abuja has stated that the Canadian government had not cancelled President Goodluck Jonathan’s planned visit to Canada.
An online medium had reported over the weekend that the Canadian government had cancelled President Jonathan’s State visit to the North American country as a result of his endorsement of the Same Sex Prohibition bill widely known as the anti-gay law.
Senior Canadian diplomat, Ms. Alexandra Mackenzie said “Canada and Nigeria enjoy shared interest in expanding opportunities for economic, social and security cooperation between our two countries.
“No visit is scheduled. However, we look forward to the opportunities of welcoming President Goodluck Jonathan to Canada at a future date.”
Also commenting on the report, Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri said “It is not true that the President’s proposed state visit to Canada was cancelled.
“In international protocol, dates are proposed for trips and the two countries keep exchanging correspondences until a week to the visit and the date is finally confirmed.
“In this case, that has not been done. The visit was only proposed, so we cannot talk of cancellation.
“This development is normal in international protocol, it is not new. After all, we were supposed to go to Vatican too.”