Tinubu Jets Out To Chad For Déby’s Inauguration

President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Thursday, May 23, for N’Djamena, Republic of Chad, to attend the inauguration of President Idriss Mahamat Déby Itno.

The inauguration follows the declaration of President Déby as the winner of the country’s presidential election earlier this month and subsequent affirmation by the Constitutional Court of Chad.

According to the statement by presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu will be accompanied on the trip by some senior government officials and will return after the ceremony.

Déby, Chad’s junta leader, won the African nation’s May 6 presidential election with 61 percent of the vote, according to final results which was announced.

The Constitutional Council, which declared the winner, also rejected a bid by Prime Minister Succes Masra to annul the result.

Masra, who had claimed victory, said in a social media message that he did not agree with the results but added: “there is no other national legal recourse.” He called on supporters to “remain mobilised” but “peaceful”.

Deby called the election to end three years of military rule in a country crucial in the fight against jihadism across Africa’s restive Sahel region.

Deby made no immediate comment after being proclaimed winner. But following the release of provisional results on May 9, he declared himself “the elected president of all Chadians” and promised to make good on his “commitments”.

Deby easily won the vote. Masra came second with 18.5 percent, while former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke won 16.9 percent, Constitutional Council president Jean-Bernard Padare said on Thursday.

Deby and Masra faced eight other candidates who were either relatively unknown or considered not hostile to the regime.

Early in the campaign, observers predicted a massive win for 40-year-old Deby, whose late father ruled Chad for three decades before him.

Masra, a 40-year-old economist, surprised everyone by gathering huge crowds during his campaign, leading him to claim he could win or push Deby into a second round.

The country has been marked by coups, authoritarian governments and rebel attacks since its independence from France in 1960.

Deby was proclaimed transitional president by fellow army generals in 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno was shot dead by rebels.

He promised an 18-month transition to democracy but then extended it by two years.