The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, who was initially billed to return to Abuja on Saturday from Paris, France, proceeded to London, United Kingdom, for a ‘short private visit’.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser Special Duties, Communications & Strategy to the President, Dele Alake, in a statement on Saturday.
He said President Bola Tinubu on Friday concluded his official trip to Paris, France, during which he had ‘an outstanding participation in the summit for ‘A New Global Financing Pact’ hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.’
The President will be back in the country in time for the upcoming Eid-el-Kabir festival, according to Alake.
He added that, ‘Aside his participation at the event where he represented Nigeria well, President Tinubu also held high-profile sideline meetings with fellow heads of state and government, global business leaders, and chief executives of leading multilateral and development finance institutions from around the world.
‘The summit afforded the President the opportunity of projecting, on a global stage, his advocacy for widening the fiscal space, economic justice for Africa as the world accelerates the pace of energy transition, and the urgency of addressing the pressing issues of poverty and climate change.’
Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that Tinubu had described Nigeria’s financial system under the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, as ‘rotten’ revealing that he was left with no option but to sack the bank chief.
Speaking in Paris, France on Friday, he cited the difficulty experienced in the flow of forex in and out of the country, stressing that it schemed to enrich a few people while impoverishing millions of Nigerians.
‘The financial system was rotten. Few people were making away with our money…that is gone now; the man (Emefiele) is in the hands of the authorities,’ Tinubu said at his first Diaspora engagement with Nigerians living in France.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Tinubu’s comments is coming exactly two weeks after the suspended the former CBN chief to pave the way for the investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector, a statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation explained.