President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Tuesday for Dakar, Senegal, to attend the inauguration of Senegal’s President-elect, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
This was disclosed in a press statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale on Monday.
He said that the president’s trip is at the invitation of the Republic of Senegal.
President Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government, will join other regional leaders to witness the inauguration at the Diamniadio Exhibition Centre.
He will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and other senior government officials.
The President is expected to return to Nigeria after the conclusion of the inauguration.
Senegal President-elect, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was propelled to power from humble roots despite never holding national elected office. He defied the odds by promising radical change and being guided by a charismatic mentor.
Commonly known as Diomaye, which means “the honourable one” in the local Serer language, he won the March 24 presidential election with 54.3 percent of the vote just 10 days after leaving prison.
His anti-establishment message, the backing of opposition figurehead Ousmane Sonko and his modest personality helped him to a crushing first-round victory over the governing coalition’s candidate.
When 44-year-old Faye is sworn in on Tuesday, he will become Senegal’s fifth and youngest president since independence from France in 1960.
In a victory speech in French and Wolof, Faye said his priorities were “national reconciliation”, easing a painful cost-of-living crisis and fighting corruption.
He has promised left-wing pan-Africanism to restore national sovereignty that he claims has been cheaply sold off, with the oil, gas and fishing sectors all in his firing line.
He is looking at creating a new national currency in lieu of the CFA franc and plans huge investments in the agricultural and industrial sectors to absorb unemployment that officially hovers at around 20 percent.
On the international stage, Faye seeks to bring military-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger back into the fold of regional bloc ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States) and recalibrate partnerships for mutual benefit.
