Nigeria President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday in Dakar, Senegal, joined other regional leaders to witness the inauguration of Bassirou Diomaye Faye as Senegal’s President.
Tinubu, accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and other senior government officials, on Tuesday departed Abuja early for the trip on the invitation of the Republic of Senegal.
The Nigerian President, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, joined other regional leaders to witness the inauguration at Diamniadio Exhibition Centre.
Meanwhile, the 44-year-old was sworn in after a period of political turmoil and fears that outgoing President Macky Sall – who had already been in power for 12 years – would try to extend his mandate into a third term.
He was released from prison less than two weeks before the March 24 election, along with popular opposition figure and mentor Ousmane Sonko, following a political amnesty announced by outgoing President Macky Sall. It is the former tax inspector’s first time in elected office.
For months, the nation was on tenterhooks.
But after a whirlwind election cycle and last week’s landslide win for the young, anti-establishment candidate who was in prison just 20 days ago, there is now a palpable feeling among Senegalese that change has come.
His victory is seen as reflecting the will of young people frustrated with widespread unemployment and former colonial ruler France, seen by critics to be using its relationship with Senegal to enrich itself.
Faye was arrested and sent to prison, where he stayed for 11 months before being released just before last month’s vote.
At the time of his arrest, Faye had been working for Sonko, also a tax inspector. They were figureheads of the union of employees of the tax office upset with injustice and disparities at the tax department.
In 2014, Sonko, a firebrand with a soft tone and a sharp tongue, created the political party PASTEF (African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity). The party attracted middle management civil servants who felt frustrated and powerless as they watched their superiors steal money and receive kickbacks with impunity.
Sonko came to fame by denouncing corruption in contracts for the lucrative oil and gas sector after natural gas reserves were discovered in 2014.
In 2023, he was arrested on multiple charges, including provoking insurrection, conspiring with “terrorist groups”, endangering state security and immoral behavior towards individuals younger than 21.
Shortly after, the government banned his party.
Overwhelmingly funded by the Senegalese diaspora from Europe and North America, Faye and Sonko ran an American-style campaign, campaigning as a duo “Diomaye Sonko” on a pan-African ticket.
