President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Rome, the capital city of Italy, to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican City.
President Tinubu touched down at about 05:00 (local time) at the Military Airport, Rome, on Saturday, to attend a solemn mass marking the beginning of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was received by top Nigerian government officials.
A statement released earlier on Thursday by the Presidency had disclosed that President Tinubu’s trip to Rome was at the invitation of the Vatican, following the election of Pope Leo XIV by the Conclave of Cardinals.
According to the Presidency, in a letter sent to the Nigerian Leader, President Tinubu, by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope described the Nigerian president’s presence as significant “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
Pope Leo further stressed “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
President Tinubu’s entourage includes the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop of Owerri and President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Archbishop Lucius Ugorji; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja Catholic Dioscess, and Alfred Martins of Lagos Diocese.