Former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has revealed how he persuaded Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, to walk up and greet President Bola Tinubu during the inauguration ceremony of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican last month.
Fayemi disclosed this during an interview on Edmund Obilo’s YouTube programme uploaded on Thursday, shedding more light on the widely discussed meeting between Tinubu and Obi during the papal inauguration in Vatican City.
The encounter had attracted national attention after presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga posted photographs from the event on social media on May 18, 2025.
At the time, Onanuga explained that Fayemi had encouraged Obi to join him in greeting Tinubu, who was seated among world leaders attending the inauguration ceremony.
According to Onanuga, Fayemi noticed where the president was seated and asked Obi to follow him to greet the Nigerian leader.
However, Fayemi’s latest explanation provided additional details, including Obi’s initial hesitation and fears that the meeting could be politically misrepresented in the media.
Speaking during the interview, Fayemi said he and Obi travelled to the Vatican mainly because of their Catholic faith and long-standing ties with the Church.
“Peter and I are Catholics. We were at the Vatican for the inauguration of the new pope. We happened to have had breakfast the morning of inauguration with Cardinal Lazarus and we came from his apartment to the venue of the inauguration and we sat four rows behind the president,” Fayemi explained.
According to him, both men arrived before President Tinubu and his delegation entered the venue.
He added that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, who was part of the presidential delegation, later approached them to exchange greetings.
Fayemi said that moment created an opportunity for him to suggest that they should also greet the president despite political differences.
“The current minister of foreign affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, was on the president’s delegation and she came to say hello to us. And I felt, well, our president is there regardless of our politics. Peter, please let us go,” Fayemi said.
According to Fayemi, Obi was initially uncomfortable with the idea because he feared photographs or reports of the handshake could later be twisted for political propaganda.
“He had his concern that this might be misused in the media,” Fayemi recalled.
But the former Ekiti governor said he advised Obi to put politics aside and focus on national unity and respect for the office of the president.
“I said, Peter, it really didn’t matter. You are Catholic. You are a Nigerian. You are here. Our president has honoured us. He is even a Muslim. He is not a Catholic like you and I. So we could extend courtesies to him for doing this on behalf of all Nigerians to celebrate the pope,” Fayemi stated.
He explained that Obi eventually agreed and both of them walked up to Tinubu together.
According to Fayemi, he welcomed the president and thanked him for representing Nigeria at the important Catholic event.
“So we walked up to the president and I said, ‘Mr President, welcome to the Vatican. Thank you for honouring us with your presence,’” Fayemi narrated.
The former governor said Tinubu responded jokingly and quickly turned the comment around.
“The president is quick-witted, you have got to give him some credit for that as well. He immediately retorted, ‘Kayode, what are you saying? I should be the one welcoming you because I am the leader of the Nigerian delegation,’” Fayemi added.
Fayemi said Obi also acknowledged Tinubu’s position as president despite their political rivalry.
“Peter kindly said to him, ‘Yes sir, you are our leader. So thank you for coming to Rome to honour us even though we are not part of your delegation, but you are our leader.’ So we joked about it and that was it,” he said.
According to Fayemi, the brief exchange ended peacefully and both parties later went their separate ways as Tinubu continued other official engagements linked to the Vatican ceremony.
The meeting between Tinubu and Obi attracted widespread reactions in Nigeria because of the intense political rivalry between both men during the 2023 presidential election.
The election was one of the most fiercely contested in Nigeria’s recent history, with Obi emerging as a major challenger under the Labour Party platform, especially among young Nigerians and urban voters.
Although Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Obi and his supporters challenged the result in court, alleging irregularities.
The Supreme Court later upheld Tinubu’s victory, but political tensions between supporters of both camps remained strong long after the election.
Because of this background, the images of Obi and Tinubu exchanging greetings at the Vatican generated debates across social media, with many Nigerians interpreting the moment differently.
Some viewed the handshake as a symbol of political maturity and national unity, while others argued that political rivals could maintain civility despite disagreements.
Fayemi, who has maintained relationships across political lines over the years, appeared to support that view during the interview.
Both Fayemi and Obi are known to be devoted Catholics and members of the Papal Knights, an honour given by the Vatican to distinguished members of the Catholic Church.
Interestingly, Obi later recalled on social media that he and Fayemi had attended the inauguration of Pope Francis at the same Vatican venue in 2013 when both were serving governors.
President Tinubu, who is a Muslim, also used the occasion to speak about national unity and religious tolerance in Nigeria.
Addressing members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria who joined his delegation, Tinubu said Nigeria’s diversity should be used as a source of strength rather than division.
“If we use our diversity not for adversity but for prosperity, the country’s hope is stability and progress,” the president said.
The Vatican meeting may have lasted only a few minutes, but it has continued to draw attention because it brought together key figures from Nigeria’s sharply divided political landscape in a rare moment of public cordiality.