The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on Friday afternoon, joined the outgoing President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for Juma’at prayers at the State House Mosque as part of ongoing programmes to mark his inauguration.
This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja by the president-elect media officer, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz.
Buhari had invited the former Lagos governor to join him in his last public prayer session at the State House Mosque before Monday’s swearing-in ceremony where he is expected to take his final bow from office.
Among those who observed the Juma’at with them were former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, General Buba Marwa; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Shehu Garba, and some other presidential aides.
The formal handover ceremonies started on Thursday with the investiture of the President-elect and his Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, with the highest national honours and the presentation of the handover documents to the incoming president.
The statement partly read “Muslim prayers and interdenominational Christian service were scheduled for Friday and Sunday, respectively. While the two events were billed to hold at the National Mosque and the National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, similar prayer sessions were planned all over the country.
“The events will climax on Monday, May 29 when the former Lagos governor takes the oath of office as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At the well-attended prayer session at the National Mosque, President-elect Tinubu was represented by Vice President-elect, Senator Shettima.
“At both mosques, Imams prayed for the success of the incoming administration and supplicate for Allah’s guidance for Tinubu and his deputy to steer the ship of the country to greater destination. They also admonished Muslim faithful to constantly remember their leaders and the country in prayers as enjoined by Islam.”
Speaking after observing the prayers at the State House, Tinubu told newsmen that he had come to join the president to offer prayers to Almighty Allah to support him to carry out the task of governance successfully.
The President-elect also disclosed that he would drink from the fountain of knowledge and wisdom of the Chief Imam of the State House Mosque, Sheikh Abdulwahid Suleiman, who reminded the statesmen on the burden of trust in leadership.
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