President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja after participating in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government-level Meeting held in Rome, Italy.
The jet conveying the President Tinubu touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at 7:30 p.m. local time.
The high-level meeting, co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of Italy is part of the Aqaba Process , a global counter-terrorism initiative launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan to strengthen international collaboration against terrorism and violent extremism.
Held on Wednesday, October 15, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, this year’s edition focused on improving regional and international cooperation in countering terrorism, with particular emphasis on West Africa.
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Dignitaries at the meeting included King Abdullah II of Jordan, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Also present were Azouz Nasri, President of Algeria’s Upper House, as well as delegations from Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Senegal, and Uzbekistan, alongside security experts and special envoys.
On the sidelines of the event, President Tinubu held bilateral talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Dr. Massad Boulos, Senior Adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump on Arab and African Affairs.
He also met with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, where discussions centered on promoting religious harmony and addressing disinformation portraying Nigeria as intolerant of religious diversity.
Since its establishment in 2015, the Aqaba Process has convened 33 meetings across different levels from Heads of State summits to expert sessions anchored on three key pillars: prevention, coordination, and closing operational gaps in counter-terrorism efforts.
President Tinubu is expected to resume official duties immediately following his return to the nation’s capital.
(Editor: Okechukwu Eze)
