Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo caused a stir at the
ongoing African Export and Import Bank, Afreximbank, Annual Meeting in Abuja on
Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the former
President chose to sit among the participants instead of a front row seat
reserved for him among the dignitaries, at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp
Hilton.
No one knew the reason for Obasanjo’s action and he did not
explain to anyone.
Before Obasanjo’s arrival, Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation; Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; Minister
of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and Albert Muchanga, African Union’s Commissioner for
Trade and Transport were already seated.
He arrived when Benedict Oramah, the President and Chairman
of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank was delivering his welcome speech.
Earlier, the meeting witnessed the opening ceremony which
featured a documentary on the history of Afreximbank’s 25 years of existence.
George Elombi, the Executive Vice President of Afreximbank
had also delivered his introductory remarks.
But when Bronwyn Nelson, the Editor-at-Large of CNBC Africa
who was moderator of the event, walked up to welcome Obasanjo at the entrance
with the aim of ushering him to his seat, the former Nigerian president refused
and chose to sit on an empty seat on the right row of the hall.
Everyone was surprised at Obasanjo’s action including the
other dignitaries in front of the hall.
After Oramah’s welcome speech, Muchanga and Nelson went to
persuade Obasanjo to take his seat.
The former president, however, complied and followed them to
his seat.
He shook hands with the dignitaries starting from Mustapha
to El-Rufai, Oramah and Adeosun among others before sitting.
Obasanjo, therefore, became the toast of the Afreximbank
Annual Meeting 2018 and 25th anniversary programme, which will end in Abuja on
Saturday.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com