How Tinubu got Guinean Citizenship and his relationship With Ex- Guinean President Conde- Ousmane Yara
Ousmane Yara, an ambassador for the African Union’s Agenda 2063, has explained how Bola Tinubu, the incoming president of Nigeria, became a citizen of Guinea.
It follows a viral video that went viral last week and showed Yara, Tinubu, and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in a government chopper from Guinea.
Yara’s comments also came after images of Tinubu’s Guinean passport went viral, indicating that he holds dual citizenship.
According to Yara, the video was made in 2016, and Tinubu was in Guinea at the time as a guest of former President Conde for the nation’s celebration of its independence.
Yara claims that he, Tinubu, and Sanwo-Olu, who wasn’t the governor at the time, flew by helicopter from the Guinean capital to Mamu in the Fula region of the nation to attend an anniversary celebration of the country’s independence.
When Conde was president, he allegedly moved the state celebration of the event from region to region every year.
Yara revealed that the President-elect visited Guinea for the first time in 2015 after he hosted former President Conde in Lagos earlier.
He added that Tinubu’s presence at Guinea’s independence anniversary celebration in 2016 was his second as a guest of former President Conde.
Yara said to Daily Sun: “Through one of Tinubu’s aides at that time, who is now a minister in the government of Nigeria, I facilitated a meeting between President Conde and Tinubu. President Conde was going for reelection, for the second term, in office, then in 2015. He came to Nigeria to see Tinubu, who organised a dinner in his honour. At the dinner, Tinubu invited many Nigerian businessmen and others.
“President Conde then invited Tinubu to Guinea about one month to the election for his second term. Tinubu honoured the invitation and came with a team of economic experts and businessmen, who took time to discuss with Guinean government officials how the country could better harness its resources for economic prosperity and development.
“Tinubu spent only one day and travelled to London from there, but left the team he came with to continue engagement with Guinean officials on how to transform Guinea. The team and Guinean government officials worked for three days, and came up with an economic roadmap.”
Yara said Conde, (who is currently in exile in Turkey) was pleased with Tinubu’s support for his reelection which saw ex-President Conde invite Tinubu to the independence anniversary in 2016.
Yara added, “President Conde invited Tinubu to the independence anniversary. Since the official function at every independence anniversary was done in different regions, Tinubu was required to fly from the country’s capital, in a helicopter, to Mamu, where that year’s event was held. That was the video being circulated. At the independence anniversary celebration, President Conde gave Tinubu the honour and privilege of a president, in appreciation of what he did for him during his reelection bid and towards economic development of Guinea.”
Yara said President Conde, in his appreciation to Tinubu, gave him a “Special Envoy” status.
He said, “Conde recognised Tinubu as a pan-Africanist and saw him as a special envoy.”
