Claim: A Twitter user claimed President Bola Tinubu went to the 2023 G20 summit without invitation.
Verdict: False! President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not appear at the G20 summit uninvited.
Full Text:
On September 9, 2023, the Group of Twenty or G20 summit was held in New Delhi, India. The eighteenth meeting was held atBharat Mandapam International Exhibition-Convention Centre, Pragati Maiden.
G20 is an annual summit, a gathering of G20 leaders that debuted in 2008 and has now evolved into a major forum for discussing economics and other pressing global issues. Bilateral meetings on the summit’s sidelines have occasionally led to major international agreements.
The G20 is a forum comprising nineteen countries with some of the world’s largest economies and the European Union (EU). The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States. Spain is invited as a permanent guest.
Regarding the recent summit, the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, joined several other members, alongside some ministers, to attend the meeting. However, this did not go uncriticized as a social media user shared a post after, saying the President participated in the summit without being invited.
The claim made on X reads, “ Nigeria is Not a member of G20. Tinubu was not invited to the summit. Why did he run away four days early? What is he running away from?”
Several comments on this post suggest that the President ran off to the summit because he did not want to attend the election tribunal hearing against his election as president.
It is pertinent to note that Nigeria is not a member of G20. Still, since the Nigerian president attended, and with claims that lurk around it, Prime Progress decided to look into it and verify.
Verification:
Using a keyword search for “Nigeria G20 summit”, Prime Progress confirmed that Nigeria is one of the nine guest countries at this year’s G20.
On the official G20 site, Nigeria is listed alongside other invitees, including Singapore and the Netherlands, whose leaders also travelled to India for the summit. See here and here.
Nigeria also released an official statementsaying Tinubu was attending the summit “on the special of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. It goes further to say that on the summit’s sidelines, the President will participate in and deliver keynote addresses at the Nigeria-India Presidential Roundtable and the Nigeria-India Business Conference.
Nigeria is looking to apply for membership to the group and is “ascertaining the benefits and risks” of joining as part of Tinubu’s trip. find here
In confirmation of this, a statement published on the official white house website reads, “Nigeria’s invitation to the G20 summit is a recognition of Nigeria’s important global role as Africa’s largest democracy and economy.”
This in itself proves that Nigeria was indeed invited to the summit.
Conclusion:
The President of Nigeria and representatives from other nations were invited to participate in the summit. Contrary to the claim of evading the country, he promptly accepted the invitation, demonstrating Nigeria’s eagerness to explore potential G20 membership opportunities. This refutes the claim above as inaccurate.
