Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday caused a stir at the annual meeting of the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Abuja.
The elder statesman who was late for the meeting chose to sit among participants, rather than using the front row seat reserved for him.
The event held at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Bronwyn Nelson, editor-at-large of CNBC Africa, who was moderator of the event had walked up to welcome Obasanjo at the entrance with the aim of ushering him to his seat but the former president refused.
The ex-president arrived the event when Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of the board of directors of the bank, was delivering his welcome speech.
Obasanjo eventually took the reserved seat
Dignitaries such as Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna; Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, and Albert Muchanga, African Union’s commissioner for trade and transport were already seated when Obasanjo arrived.
After Oramah’s welcome speech, Muchanga and Nelson went to persuade Obasanjo to take his seat. The former president eventually succumbed and followed them to his seat.
Before sitting, he exchanged pleasantries with with Mustapha, el-Rufai, Oramah and Adeosun.
