Okonjo-Iweala arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 2:50 pm alongside the former Minister of State for Health under Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Dr. Ali Pate.
President Bola Tinubu is meeting with the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Prof. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Vanguard, Okonjo-Iweala arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 2:50 pm alongside the former Minister of State for Health under Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Dr. Ali Pate.
Okonjo-Iweala was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy during Jonathan’s government.
In June, the former finance minister came under fire after posting pictures of herself with some presidents in the first set of pictures of the Paris Global Financial summit which she posted on social media, but excluding Tinubu, who had recently been sworn in.
The photographs showed how she was interacting with the Presidents of Brazil, Senegal, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia.
“More images from the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris. With HE President @LulaOficial HE President @Macky_Sall HE President @CyrilRamaphosa and HE President @HHichilema #NewGlobalFinancingPact,” she captioned one of the tweets where she omitted Tinubu.
Following the display of photos that omitted President Tinubu, some aggrieved Nigerians took to the comments section to criticise Okonjo-Iweala.
They said her actions diminished the importance of Tinubu’s attendance at the meeting.
Amid the criticisms, she uploaded photographs where she appeared with President Tinubu and another set of leaders at the summit.
“More images from the Paris Summit #NewGlobalFinancingPact. With HE President Ali Bongo @PresidentABO, HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABAT, HE President @WilliamsRuto and African Business moguls @Mo_IbrahimFdn @TonyOElumelu,” she wrote alongside the pictures.
But the criticisms kept pouring in.
Apparently, to douse the tension, Okonjo-Iweala posted a tweet where she explained the reason for the initial omission.
“Nigerians please relax! Re Paris, Interesting attacks from both sides. Sadly shows the depth of polarization in our society. I post photos in the order received by accompanying staff or colleagues. Reading more into it is unwarranted. Let’s unite to build our country not attack,” she wrote.