Nigeria: My Relationship With Queen Elizabeth - Obasanjo

19 September 2022

Mr Obasanjo said he was fortunate to have hosted the Queen as Nigeria's president during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), in Abuja in 2003.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday said his relationship with the late Queen Elizabeth II was perfect.

Mr Obasanjo spoke in a statement Monday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as the funeral service of the monarch was underway.

The Queen died on 8th September after reigning for 70 years.

She was 96.

Mr Obasanjo, who said he had tremendous respect for the former Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, said he was about to leave secondary school when the late Queen first visited the country in 1956.

In the statement, Mr Obasanjo said he was fortunate to have hosted the Queen as Nigeria's president during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), in Abuja in 2003, "and I can say that she was wonderful."

"My relationship with the Queen was perfect, she was a great, great woman, who had shown a great example in human relationships. She carried herself so graciously, so dignified. She was somebody I have tremendous respect for.

"I join the rest of the world to mourn with her family, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth (because she was the Head of Commonwealth), and the rest of the world. I also mourn with Prince Charles, who promised to continue from where she had stopped. May her soul rest in peace."

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