*It Wasn’t Time For Greetings, Says Aide

*President Arrives Venue Of Swearing-In With Obasanjo

A VIDEO has emerged, indicating that contrary to another trending video, which has attracted negative comments, the newly sworn-in South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, did not snub Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu during the ceremony.

Although in the trending video, Ramaphosa did no extend a handshake to Tinubu, but in another video, he was seen shaking hands with the Nigerian leader and having a brief chat, indicating that he was going round the rows of seats welcoming African leaders present at the ceremony.

      A viral video of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa purportedly ignoring Tinubu during his inauguration has caused a buzz on the Internet.

Social activist, Aisha Yesufu, had posted the clip on handle on Wednesday and wrote that Tinubu was disgraced once again, while another X user said the President was “looking lost.”

In the video, Ramaphosa was seen exchanging handshakes with dignitaries on the front row, while Tinubu was on the second row, next to Tanzanian President, Samia Hassan, and other leaders.

Ramaphosa did not immediately offer a handshake to all the dignitaries in that row.

But in another video posted by the South African presidency, Ramaphosa was seen heading to the second row to interact with the heads of state and government.

“My President, it’s so good to have you here. Thank you so much; we will talk later,” the South African president was reported to have told Tinubu.

      Offering further insight, Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Digital Communications, Strategy and New Media, O’tega Ogra, explained that the first row at the inauguration was reserved for South African royalty and that Ramaphosa was not expected to start greeting dignitaries at the time in the viral video, which is why he abruptly ended after being called back to his seat by the compere.

“Immediately after Ramaphosa finished the anthem, he went ahead to greet the visiting presidents, who were all seated in the second row,” Ogra added, while berating Yesufu for her “consistent display of crass ignorance” and “hatred” for Nigeria.

       Meanwhile, Tinubu and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday, June 19, were ushered into the venue of the swearing-in of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa for a second term, one after the other.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, made this known via his X handle, with a video showing Tinubu walking into the swearing-in arena after Obasanjo.

According to Onanuga: “President Tinubu and former President Obasanjo arrive venue of the swearing-in of President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria, South Africa.”

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President  on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said Tinubu departed Lagos for Pretoria, the South African capital, on Tuesday, June 18, to attend Ramaphosa’s inauguration and would return to Nigeria after the ceremony.

It was not clear whether the two Nigerian leaders travelled together of met at the venue.

      Ramaphosa, 71, took oath as the country’s president for the next five years in Pretoria, the administrative capital, after his re-election as South African president by the National Assembly on June 14 with 283 votes against the other nominee, Julius Malema, from the Economic Freedom Fighters, who received 44 votes.

Under the South African constitution, once elected as president by the National Assembly, the president-elect must assume office within five days.

In the May 29 general elections, Ramaphosa’s African national Congress (ANC) secured 159 out of the 400 seats in the parliament, the first time the ruling party failed to garner the required 50 per cent needed to maintain its 30-year-old outright majority in the lower house of parliament.