PRESIDENT TINUBU DEPARTS BRAZIL FOR ABUJA AFTER STATE VISIT

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has departed Brazil for Abuja after a successful state visit aimed at strengthening relations between Nigeria and Brazil. The presidential jet took off from Brasília International Airport Air Force Base at 12:57 pm local time.

Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, revealed that Ambassador Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte, Secretary for Africa and the Middle East, and Ambassador Carlos José Areias Moreno Garcete, Ambassador of Brazil to Nigeria, were present at the airport to bid farewell to the President. “The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and other government officials were also at the airport,” Onanuga said.

A guard of honour led by Col. Cel Nicolas was part of the brief departure ceremony. Onanuga noted that during his visit, President Tinubu met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and senior Brazilian officials, and both leaders witnessed the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding covering key sectors in Nigeria’s development agenda, including aviation, foreign affairs, science and technology, and agriculture.

Tinubu also met with the Director-General of Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission and the Board of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, where he praised the Nigerian market’s performance, calling it a clear sign of investor confidence in his administration’s reforms. Onanuga further disclosed that the President engaged with members of the Nigerian diaspora in Brazil, urging them to contribute actively to nation-building.