The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential palace in Abuja on Thursday.
He is visiting Nigeria as part of his tour of Africa which began in Kenya earlier in the week.
Mr Blinken and the Nigerian president discussed issues including human rights, democracy and security as well as climate change.
Mr Buhari expressed his appreciation for the recent removal of Nigeria from a US watchlist of countries that violate religious freedoms – as “no one is discriminated against on the basis of his or her religion”.
The US secretary of state said the decision to drop Nigeria from the list was “based on facts”.
He said the two countries had diverse challenges with security as a common issue and hoped for a better partnership between them to tackle insecurity.
The US secretary of state is expected to elaborate on US-Africa policy under the administration of Joe Biden on Friday.
He will then move to Senegal for the final leg of his first official tour of Africa.
Source: BBC
