President Bola Tinubu has congratulated John Mahama on his swearing-in as Ghana’s president and said Nigeria will support the West African country.
Mahama was inaugurated on Tuesday in Accra, marking his return to office years after he served as Ghana’s president.
Tinubu who was among world leaders at the event noted his friendship between him and Mahama, pledging Nigeria’s backing for Ghana.
“President John Mahama and I share a deep friendship. My dear brother, I am here to work with you,” Tinubu who was a special guest said in his remarks at the event.
“You know you can count on Nigeria’s support and goodwill whenever needed. We are your brothers and sisters. The bond is strong and cannot be broken.”
Mahama who was president of Ghana between 2012 and early 2017 stormed back to power after he defeated Mahamudu Bawumia of the then-ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He polled over 50 per cent of the vote cast to coast home to victory, a landmark Tinubu shows reflects the deepening roots of democracy in Africa.
“It lays to bed the question of whether Ghana and Africa are capable of democratic and productive endeavours. Ghana has answered that question resoundingly,” Tinubu told the gathering in the sunny Accra.
“It is time that Africa’s critics stop forgetting the strides your nation, Nigeria, and others have made by continuing to ask us to prove ourselves. We have nothing to prove to anyone except ourselves.”
Tinubu extolled the Ghanaian president as a man of patriotic vision and substance.
“He loves his nation and its people to the core. He believes that your nation has a mission and intends for you all to fulfil it,” the Nigerian president said. “No one can ask more of a leader than that.”
“May your administration be a profound success and progress for you, Ghanaians, and our entire region,” he said told Mahama.
In a recent development, Chronicle NG reported Mahama gaffed during his inauguration speech; he referred to Tinubu as Ghana’s president.
“Your excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president of the Federal Republic of Ghana,” Mahama said while acknowledging dignitaries at the event.
