President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday vowed that he and other members of the African Union High-Level Consultative Committee on South Sudan will ensure that the peace agreement signed by the various political factions in the country is successfully implemented.

Speaking at an audience with South Sudan’s First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, Buhari assured him that Nigeria and the Committee would work with all stakeholders to overcome problems hindering the implementation of the seven-month old agreement.

“The situation must not deteriorate”, the President told the visiting first vice president, who is a signatory to the peace agreement.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President expressed concern that compliance with the agreed ceasefire in South Sudan has not been total.

According to him, Nigeria would work in collaboration with other members of the AU to achieve a speedy stabilisation of the situation.

He advised leaders of South Sudan not to allow ethnicity and corruption to gain a foothold in the new country.

“Ethnicity and corruption are a lethal combination. You have to deal with them otherwise instability will continue,” Buhari said.

Also yesterday in Abuja, Buhari received a special envoy of the AU  Chairman,  President Idris Deby-Itno.

The special envoy, Mr. Abubakar Saleh Chahaimi, delivered a message from Deby-Itno to Buhari on strengthening of bilateral relations between Nigeria and Chad, as well as the work of the AU Consultative Committee on South Sudan.