President Bola Tinubu met with Sierra Leonean President Julius Bio on Friday night at the State House in Abuja for a private, closed‑door discussion.
Bio arrived at the Villa at 9:08 pm, where he was received by a full row of presidential bagpipers from the Brigade of Guards before being escorted to Tinubu’s office.
The meeting comes four months after Bio assumed the chairmanship of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in July 2025, succeeding Tinubu, who had held the role for two years.
While the exact agenda of the talks was not disclosed, sources indicate that discussions likely focused on regional responsibilities and ECOWAS matters.
The session also occurred amid heightened international scrutiny of Nigeria’s response to terrorism. US President Donald Trump recently threatened potential military action over alleged mass killings of Christians—a claim Tinubu has firmly denied, stating it does not reflect the country’s reality.
Earlier this week, ECOWAS dismissed the genocide allegations as “false narratives designed to inflame tensions,” emphasizing that extremist groups in the Sahel and West Africa target civilians of all faiths to destabilize communities and undermine social cohesion.
This marks Bio’s first official visit to Nigeria since assuming the ECOWAS chairmanship.