Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has revealed how he persuaded former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to greet President Bola Tinubu during the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
Fayemi disclosed this in an interview on Edmund Obilo’s YouTube channel published on Thursday, explaining that Obi was initially hesitant because he feared the encounter could be politically misrepresented in the media.
The meeting first became public on May 18, 2025, after presidential aide Bayo Onanuga shared photographs from the event on X.
According to Onanuga, Fayemi spotted Tinubu seated among world leaders and encouraged Obi to join him in greeting the Nigerian president.
Providing more details about the encounter, Fayemi said he and Obi attended the papal inauguration as practising Catholics and had breakfast earlier that day with Cardinal Lazarus before proceeding to the ceremony, where they sat a few rows behind Tinubu.
He said the opportunity for the meeting arose after Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, approached them to exchange greetings.
Fayemi said he then suggested that they should also greet the president despite political differences.
According to him, Obi initially worried that photographs or reports from the meeting could be twisted politically, but he advised him that it was simply a matter of courtesy and national respect.
Fayemi noted that Tinubu attended the inauguration on behalf of Nigeria despite not being a Catholic, adding that this made the gesture important.
He said Obi eventually agreed and both men approached the president together.
Recalling the exchange, Fayemi said he welcomed Tinubu to the Vatican and thanked him for attending the inauguration ceremony.
He added that Tinubu jokingly replied that, as leader of the Nigerian delegation, he should have been the one welcoming them instead.
Fayemi said Obi also acknowledged Tinubu’s position during the conversation, thanking him for representing Nigeria at the event.
According to Fayemi, the interaction ended shortly afterwards, with Tinubu continuing his official engagements linked to the inauguration ceremony.
When asked whether it was the first handshake between Tinubu and Obi since the 2023 presidential election, Fayemi said he could not confirm but acknowledged that both men shook hands at the Vatican.
Fayemi and Obi are both practising Catholics and Papal Knights, a Vatican honour awarded to distinguished members of the Catholic Church.
