President Bola Tinubu
Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his absence from the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), describing it as a worrying development and demanding that the Presidency disclose his whereabouts and health status.
The opposition party said it was concerned that President Tinubu did not personally attend the annual gathering of world leaders in New York, noting that Vice President Kashim Shettima was sent to lead Nigeria’s delegation.
In a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director Esq, the NDC described the President’s absence from UNGA for the third consecutive year as “unpresidential, unconstitutional, and unacceptable.”
The party also questioned the President’s continued stay outside Nigeria, alleging that he had remained in Europe for more than three weeks without formally transferring power as required by the Constitution.
According to the statement, “This pattern of disappearing acts, compounded by his unexplained more than three-week absence from Nigeria on a so-called vacation in Europe, is unpresidential, unconstitutional, and unacceptable.”
The NDC argued that Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution requires the President to transmit a written declaration to the National Assembly whenever he proceeds on vacation or is unable to perform the functions of his office.
The party asked why President Tinubu allegedly failed to comply with the constitutional provision, adding that at one point, the President, Vice President and Senate President were all outside the country.
“Nigeria was left adrift – no president at home, no president at the UN. Why is the president always afraid of transmitting a written declaration to the National Assembly? At some point, the country was on autopilot with the absence of the president, vice president, and senate president from the country,” the statement said.
The NDC also argued that the President’s absence denied Nigeria the opportunity to engage directly with other world leaders on issues such as foreign investment, debt relief, climate finance and security cooperation.
According to the party, “UNGA is not a jamboree for 15-minute speeches. It is where presidents look other presidents in the eye, sign off on concrete decisions, secure direct foreign investment, negotiate debt relief, climate finance, and security cooperation.”
The opposition party further stated, “Investors do not sign billion-dollar deals with proxies. You can not outsource presidential diplomacy.”
The statement claimed the absence could lead to the loss of foreign direct investment opportunities, weaken Nigeria’s influence on global financial reforms, reduce security partnerships and diminish the country’s standing in Africa.
The NDC compared Nigeria’s representation at the UNGA with that of neighbouring Ghana, praising President John Dramani Mahama for what it described as a strong presentation on issues affecting Africa.
The party also faulted comments credited to Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, that the President would not travel to New York just to deliver a 15-minute speech.
Reacting to the remark, the NDC said, “To say the President can not fly to New York ‘to speak for just 15 minutes,’ as Ambassador Ibrahim said, betrays a fundamental ignorance of diplomacy. Every world leader gets 15 minutes. What matters is what you do with the other 10,000 minutes of high-level corridor diplomacy. That is where the world is run.”
The party called on the Presidency to immediately disclose the President’s whereabouts and health status, comply with Section 145 of the Constitution whenever the President is away, and end what it described as an “imperial presidency.”
“A nation of over 200 million people can not be run by delegation and press release. Nigeria deserves a president who is present,” the statement added.
President Bola Tinubu was initially expected to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, the Presidency later announced that Vice President Kashim Shettima would lead Nigeria’s delegation. The development has generated political debate, with opposition parties questioning the President’s absence, while the Presidency has maintained that government activities continue uninterrupted.
