President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is set to depart from Abuja on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, for Dakar, Senegal, to attend the inauguration of Senegal’s President-elect, Bassirou Faye. The Presidency made this announcement in a statement released by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, under the title ‘President Tinubu to Attend Inauguration of Senegal’s President-elect Bassirou Faye.’ Tinubu, who currently serves as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, will be making his first official visit to the country since assuming office, following an invitation from the Senegalese government.
“He will be joining other regional leaders at the Diamniadio Exhibition Centre on Tuesday to witness the inauguration,” stated Ngelale. The President will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, along with other senior government officials. Following the event, President Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria.
Bassirou Faye, aged 44, secured over 54 percent of the votes cast in Senegal’s delayed presidential election. Last week, the constitutional council of Senegal confirmed the victory of the opposition candidate in the presidential election. Once sworn in on Tuesday, Faye will become Senegal’s fifth and youngest president since gaining independence from France in 1960. In his victory speech delivered in French and Wolof, Faye outlined his key priorities as “national reconciliation”, addressing the challenging cost-of-living crisis, and combating corruption. He has pledged to implement left-wing pan-Africanism to restore national sovereignty, particularly focusing on reclaiming control of sectors like oil, gas, and fishing that he believes have been undervalued.
