No fewer than seven African Presidents were present on Monday at the inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the 16th President of Nigeria.
The colourful event which took place at the Eagles Square which was filled to capacity had in attendance Rwandan President Paul Kagame, his Liberian counterpart, George Weah; President Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia; President Samia Hassan of Tanzania; President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, among others.
Vice Premier Peng Qinghua, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress and special envoy of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping also graced the occasion.
United States President Joe Biden was also represented by a delegation led by Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hon Marcia L. Fudge.
Other members of the delegation at the inauguration include
Mr. David Greene, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Abuja, the Honourable Sydney Kamlager-Dove, United States Representative, California, the Honorable Marisa Lago, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce, General Michael E. Langley, Commander of U.S. Africa Command.
Also at Tinubu’s inauguration were the US Hon Enoh T. Ebong, Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the Honorable Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State,
the Honorable Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council, and the Honorable Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.
Also present at the occasion were the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila; former President Goodluck Jonathan; Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina.
Also, among the crowd of dignitaries are the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, Ministers, Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Adamu Abdullahi; traditional rulers, clergy men, among others.
The programme proper had kicked off in earnest at about 10:12am with the arrival of then President Muhammadu Buhari.
Prior to Buhari’s arrival, the President-elect Tinubu, Vice President-elect Shettima and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had all arrived and got settled into the State Box in readiness for the programme.
At exactly 10.36 am, Tinubu took his oath of office accompanied by his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, administered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
Vice President Kashim Shettima took his own oath of Office a moment earlier.
By 11am, former President Muhammadu Buhari joined his successor, Bola Tinubu on the dias to witness the official hoisting of new National and Defence Flags to signify the beginning of the Tinubu Administration. The new colours and instrument of office was earlier handed over to Buhari and Tinubu, who in turned passed it on to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Iraboh.
Few minutes after at exactly 11.03am, former President Buhari left the Eagles Square venue of the inauguration of his successor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He left in company of some personal aides to the airport where he will be flown to Katsina airport where an helicopter is waiting to fly him to Daura, his home town where a reception is being organised for the 15th President of Nigeria.
