With 19 days till his inauguration, President-elect Bola Tinubu on Wednesday afternoon left Nigeria for Europe on a working visit, his spokesman Tunde Rahman said.
Earlier, Rahman in a statement disclosed that Tinubu would use the opportunity of the trip to finetune the transition plans and programmes, as well as his policy options with some of his key aides without what he described as unnecessary pressures and distractions.
“During the visit, the President-elect will engage with investors and other key allies with the goal of marketing investment opportunities in the country and his administration’s readiness to enable a business-friendly climate through policies and regulations,” he said.
According to him, already, meetings with multi-sectoral actors in Europe’s business community including manufacturing, agriculture, tech and energy have been lined up.
“Asíwájú Tinubu hopes to convince them of Nigeria’s readiness to do business under his leadership through mutually-beneficial partnerships premised on jobs creation and skills acquisition,” Rahman stated.
“Reviving the country’s economy forms a major plank of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and the meeting is part of his efforts to re-establish Nigeria’s importance in the global economic chain and create empowering opportunities for the country’s huge youth population.”
The President-elect was said to have hitherto promised to hit the ground running.
Rahman added that the visit was reflective of his commitment to the promise as he had already begun talks with global actors in the important areas of the economy and security.
“Before he left the country, Asíwájú Tinubu met with the House of Representatives candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker endorsed by his party, the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who were presented to him by the Joint Task Team of the House.
“He is scheduled to return shortly for preparations towards his official swearing-in as the 16th President of the country on May 29, 2023,” the statement said.