The presidents of Benin, Niger, and Guinea-Bissau arrived at the Aso Rock Villa, on Tuesday, to visit their Nigerian counterpart, Bola Tinubu.
President Patrice Talon of Benin, Mohamed Bazoum of Niger and Umaro Embaló of Guinea-Bissau were received by Tinubu at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.Soon afterward, he led the West African leaders into a private session at his office. While the specific agenda of Tuesday’s meeting is not yet public, it comes barely nine days after President Tinubu assumed the Chairmanship of the Authority of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States. The leaders are expected to discuss security and economic development in the sub-region.
Tinubu is likely to reiterate his stance on defending democracy in the subregion given the spate of coups in recent years. Guinea-Bissau had survived an attempted coup in February 2022. However, the civilian governments of Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso had been toppled between 2019 and 2022.