Mogadishu – President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony of Abdulkadir Ahmed Firdiye, who was elected on August 30 as the president of Somalia’s newest federal state, North East Somalia.

Abdullahi Timadi, the second deputy speaker of the Federal Parliament’s Upper House, confirmed that the federal leadership will take part in the inauguration of President Abdulkadir Firdiye and his deputy, Abdirashid Yusuf Jibril.

Timadi praised the federal government’s role in ending the suffering of the people of Sool, Sanaag, and the city of Buuhoodle, enabling them to form their own state. He added that the president and prime minister had fulfilled their national duty to preserve the unity of the country.

The Somali government had provided strong support for the creation of North East Somalia state, despite opposition from both Puntland and Somaliland, who each claim that the territories in which the new state was established belong to them. With the election of the state president and his deputy, the process of establishing the new state has been completed, making it one of the member states of the Federal Government of Somalia.