UK prime minister Rishi Sunak writes to Tinubu saying he hopes to host him in London next year

BRITISH prime minister Rishi Sunak has written to Nigeria's president-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu ahead of his inauguration coming up on May 29 pointing out that he looks forward to them enjoying a good working relationship together.

On Saturday February 25, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and the Independent National Election Commission (Inec) subsequently declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner. Among the other main gladiators in the contest were Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and former Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).

Inec chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who served as the returning officer for the presidential election, declared Asiwaju Tinubu the victor of the contest with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Alhaji Abubakar of the PDP, who came second with 6,984,520 votes and Governor Obi who came third with 6,101,533 votes. On May 29, President-elect Tinubu is going to be sworn-in in line with the dictates of Nigeria's constitution but the PDP and the Labour Party are challenging the elections in court.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak was one of the first to congratulate Nigeria on holding elections, taking to social media to do so. In his message, Mr Sunak expressed his willingness to work with Asiwaju Tinubu to grow security and trade ties, opening up opportunities for businesses and creating prosperity.

With May 29 mow looming, Mr Sunak has written to president-elect Tinubu saying he hopes to welcome him to London in April 2024 for the second Africa Investment Summit. He added that the summit will be a key moment to strengthen UK-Nigerian business partnerships in order to create jobs and growth, increase bilateral trade and investment and support the aim of boosting Nigeria’s export competitiveness.

Mr Sunak's letter read: “The UK has been a longstanding partner of Nigeria and we stand ready to support your efforts to build peace, unity and prosperity in Nigeria. The UK government welcomed the opportunity to hear your priorities when you met the minister of state for development and Africa last year.

"I am proud of our work supporting access to education and healthcare, improving governance and helping meet the humanitarian needs of those affected by conflict. Together, we can expand our partnership further, including by strengthening our trade and investment relationship for the mutual prosperity of both our countries through an enhanced trade and investment partnership.

“I also hope to continue our work in addressing the security challenges facing Nigeria and the wider region. Such challenges are not limited by borders, so it is vital that we share expertise and tools to combat them and our national security adviser looks forward to further dialogue with your national security adviser later this year.

“The deep bond between our two nations comes not only from our shared heritage and the links between our people, including through education, the arts and sport but also our unique relationship through the Commonwealth. We can take pride in its values of democracy, good governance and cooperation.

"Through this forum, we will continue working in partnership to tackle global challenges like climate change, with its unique impact on Nigeria and your wider region. I believe our shared leadership on this can play a vital role.”