Saudi crown prince ‘commends’ Tinubu over economic reforms

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, has commended President Bola Tinubu over his economic reforms.

Salman gave the commendation at the sidelines of the Joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

A statement on Tuesday by Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, said Tinubu and Salman explored areas for cooperation, particularly oil and gas, agriculture, infrastructure and the constitution of the Saudi-Nigeria business council.

Onanuga said Nigeria is seeking an agreement with the Saudi government over a proposed $5 billion bilateral trade facility between the two countries.

“The Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) invested $1.24 billion in 2022 to acquire a 35.43% stake in Olam Agri, one of Nigeria’s leading agricultural firms,” the statement reads.

“Talks are being held so that SALIC can have more stake in the company. The Saudis hoped the investment would make Olam one of the biggest agro-allied businesses in the world.

“The Crown Prince commended President Tinubu’s economic reforms, noting similarities to his steps to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s stability and development when he became Prime Minister.

”He also assured Nigeria of his support and promised to motivate his team to realise the various areas of partnerships discussed at the meeting.”

He said the summit has renewed the commitment of Nigeria and other member states on the ministerial committee assigned to engage with global leaders in seeking an end to the ongoing war in Gaza and Lebanon.

“The Joint Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was formed by a resolution at the First Joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh on November 11, 2023,” Onanuga said.

“The group includes the foreign ministers of Nigeria, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Palestine, and Jordan.

“In its final resolution, the summit urged the Ministerial Committee to ‘intensify its efforts and expand them to include working on ending the aggression on Lebanon’.

“The committee will submit periodic reports, which the secretariats of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States will circulate to member states.

“The Committee has also been tasked with further engaging actors across the Global South in the efforts to strengthen international support towards ending the war and Israeli occupation.

”The resolution stressed the importance of protecting sea lanes by rules of international law and welcomed the signing of the tripartite mechanism by the League of Arab States, OIC, and the African Union to support the Palestinian cause.”

He said the leaders condemned Israeli military actions in northern Gaza, describing them as “crimes of genocide”.

“They also criticised ongoing efforts to solidify Israel’s presence in occupied East Jerusalem, reaffirming it as the eternal capital of Palestine and calling for the unification of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem under a sovereign Palestinian state,” he said.

Abdullah Abdulaziz, minister of national guard; Khalid Abdulaziz, minister of defence; and senior Saudi officials ttended the meeting.