- The meeting is another sign of growing rapprochement between the duo
- Ambode arrived at the State House around 4pm on Friday
President Bola Tinubu on Friday received an former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwumi Ambode, at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
The meeting appears to be another sign of growing rapprochement and reconciliation between the duo after years of strained relationship and cold war.
Ambode, who arrived at the State House around 4pm, was ushered into the President’s office for a closed-door session that lasted for about an hour.
As the national leader of the All Progressives Congress and former Governor of Lagos (1999 – 2007), Tinubu was instrumental to Ambode’s election as governor in 2015.
However, things went sour between the one time political mentor and his mentee around 2017, notably leading to Ambode being denied a second-term ticket by the APC in 2018.
Although the details of their conversation were not disclosed afterwards, Friday’s meeting signalled a significant improvement in their relationship.
About three weeks earlier, the two leaders were spotted together in Ikeja, Lagos, at a dinner hosted by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in Tinubu’s honour.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu will be attending the Fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities, the Regional Mechanisms, and the African Union Member States.
Tinubu is expected to depart Abuja for Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday.
The presidency made this known in a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, read on Friday.
“As the Chairperson of ECOWAS, the Nigerian leader will join Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers of the AU Member-States, and high-level dignitaries at the mid-year meeting which will take place on Sunday, July 16,” the statement read in part