President Bola Tinubu has recently received his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa as both leaders held bilateral talks following the latter’s swearing-in ceremony.
The report statement disclosed the meeting being hosted by the Nigerian president in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In a statement after the meeting, Tinubu’s spokesman Ajuri Ngelale quoted his principal as saying, “I enjoyed your speech at the ceremony. I was delighted listening to you. We have lots of issues in common, and we need to work more closely together. It was a good celebration”.
However, the South African president, Ramaphosa, thanked Tinubu for attending the inauguration.
“Thank you so much for coming for the inauguration. I was very happy to see my brother at the ceremony,” he said.
Ramaphosa was sworn in this week, wednesday after a coalition agreement between the African National Congress (ANC) and other parties.
Tinubu was among African leaders who attended Ramaphosa’s swearing-in. A video of the South African president purportedly snubbing Tinubu at the event had gone viral. But the Nigerian presidency in the wake of the development, said the video was taken out of context.
Clearing the air about the situation, the Senior Special Assistant to the president on Digital Communications, Strategy, and New Media O’tega Ogra on his X handle was quoted to say: “For the record: “The first row at today’s inauguration was reserved for South African kings/royalty. Secondly, the South African President wasn’t expected to start greeting dignitaries at the time of the video you shared and he was respectfully recalled to the podium by the inauguration compere. And thirdly, immediately after President Ramaphosa finished the anthem, he went ahead to greet the visiting presidents who were all seated in the second row (similar to the way visiting presidents were seated in the third row during Nigeria’s inauguration.
