Tinubu’s Inauguration: U.S Delegation Arrives Nigeria

The United States presidential delegation to the Federal Republic of Nigeria has arrived in the country to attend the inauguration of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Their arrival was disclosed in a tweet by the US Mission to Nigeria on Sunday.

“Welcome to Nigeria! We are excited to receive the delegation from @POTUS Biden, led by @SecFudge from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as they join us in Abuja for the inauguration of President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” it tweeted.

THE WHISTLER reports that the US President, Joe Biden, in a statement on the White House official website, had assigned the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Honorable Marcia L. Fudge, to lead the delegation.

Other members of the US Presidential Delegation include, ” Mr. David Greene, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Abuja, The Honorable Sydney Kamlager-Dove, United States Representative (D), California, The Honorable Marisa Lago, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce, General Michael E. Langley, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, The Honorable Enoh T. Ebong, Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, The Honorable Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State, The Honorable Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council and The Honorable Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.”

In the United States presidential line of succession, the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is ranked number 10.

Unlike the swearing-in of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 when the then President Barack Obama sent a delegation led by the then Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, Biden’s delegation led by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is considered ‘low-powered’ in some quarters.

The U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is ranked 13th in the country’s order of succession while the Secretary of State is ranked number 4.

The former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard had while commending all the frontrunners in the polls on March 2 stated that the 2023 elections in Nigeria did not meet up with expectations, particularly with the deployment of technology.

The US government had equally imposed a visa ban on those it felt compromised the 2023 polls in Nigeria.