•Fayemi (L), Peter Obi and Tinubu
Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has revealed how he convinced former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to greet President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
Fayemi disclosed this during an interview on Edmund Obilo’s YouTube channel uploaded yesterday, explaining that Obi was initially reluctant because he feared the meeting could be twisted in the media.
The encounter first surfaced publicly on May 18, 2025, after presidential aide Bayo Onanuga shared photographs from the event on X.
According to Onanuga, Fayemi noticed Tinubu seated among world leaders and encouraged Obi to accompany him to greet the president.
“Fayemi sighted President Tinubu, where he sat with other leaders and asked Obi to follow him to pay homage to the Nigerian leader. Obi agreed,” he posted.
Fayemi’s latest account aligned with Onanuga’s earlier explanation but added that Obi had reservations before eventually agreeing.
Explaining how the meeting happened, Fayemi said he and Obi attended the Papal inauguration as Catholics and had breakfast earlier that day with Cardinal Lazarus before heading to the ceremony, where they sat a few rows behind the Nigerian president.
“Peter and I are Catholics. We were at the Vatican for the inauguration of the new Pope. We happened to have had breakfast the morning of inauguration with Cardinal Lazarus and we came from his apartment to the venue of the inauguration and we sat four rows behind the president. We were there before the president came with his team,” Fayemi said.
He added that Minister of Foreign Affairs Bianca Ojukwu later approached them to exchange greetings, creating the opportunity for him to suggest they also greet Tinubu.
“The current minister of foreign affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, was on the president’s delegation and she came to say hello to us. And I felt, well, our president is there regardless of our politics. Peter, please let us go,” he said.
Fayemi said Obi initially expressed concerns that the moment could be politically misinterpreted.
“He had his concern that this might be misused in the media. I said, Peter, it really didn’t matter. You are Catholic. You are a Nigerian. You are here. Our president has honoured us. He is even a Muslim. He is not a Catholic like you and I. So we could extend courtesies to him for doing this on behalf of all Nigerians to celebrate the Pope,” Fayemi recalled.
According to Fayemi, Obi eventually agreed and both men walked over to greet the president.
“Readily, Peter agreed. So we walked up to the president and I said, ‘Mr President, welcome to the Vatican. Thank you for honouring us with your presence,’” Fayemi narrated.
Fayemi said Tinubu responded jokingly.
“The president is quick-witted, you have got to give him some credit for that as well. He immediately retorted, ‘Kayode, what are you saying? I should be the one welcoming you because I am the leader of the Nigerian delegation,’” Fayemi said.
He added that Obi also acknowledged Tinubu’s position during the exchange.
“Peter kindly said to him, ‘Yes sir, you are our leader. So thank you for coming to Rome to honour us even though we are not part of your delegation, but you are our leader.’ So we joked about it and that was it,” Fayemi said.
Fayemi said the brief interaction ended afterwards, with Tinubu continuing official engagements linked to the inauguration ceremony of Pope Leo XIV.
When asked whether it was the first handshake between Tinubu and Obi since the 2023 presidential election, Fayemi declined to give a definite answer.
“I wouldn’t know, but they shook hands there,” he said.
Fayemi and Obi are both practising Catholics and Papal Knights, a title awarded by the Vatican to distinguished members of the Catholic Church.
