French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday night hosted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to a private dinner at the Élysée Palace in Paris, as the Nigerian leader rounds off his three-week working vacation in Europe.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed the meeting on Friday morning in a post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956.
Onanuga said the private engagement between the two leaders reflected the longstanding relationship between Nigeria and France, as well as their commitment to further strengthening cooperation between both countries.
‘French President Emmanuel Macron received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a private dinner Thursday night at the Élysée Palace, reflecting the enduring relationship between Nigeria and France and their shared commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation’, Onanuga wrote.
Although details of the discussions at the dinner were not disclosed, the meeting came in the closing days of President Tinubu’s three-week annual leave in Europe.
Tinubu departed Abuja on Sunday, August 30, for the vacation, which the Presidency said formed part of his annual leave.
London, United Kingdom, was announced as his first stop.
The President subsequently moved to Paris for the second leg of the vacation, arriving in the French capital on Sunday, September 6, where he was received by Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Ayodele Oke.
The Presidency had said when announcing the vacation that Tinubu would return to Nigeria at the end of the three-week break.
Thursday night’s private dinner adds to a series of engagements between Tinubu and the French leadership as Nigeria and France deepen relations in trade, investment and other areas of bilateral cooperation.
Paris has also featured prominently in the President’s diplomatic and economic engagements in recent months.
In May, Tinubu held talks with global investors in the French capital, where he outlined his administration’s economic reform programme and its drive to attract investment into Nigeria.
At the May engagement, the President told investors that his administration remained focused on policy stability, fiscal discipline, transparency and implementation of reforms intended to support sustained economic growth.
The meeting brought together representatives of major international financial and investment institutions.
Tinubu’s latest meeting with Macron, coming towards the end of his European working vacation, continued the high-level contacts between Abuja and Paris as both governments seek to strengthen bilateral ties.