Tinubu's absence from office raises concern; Nigerians react

Concerns have been raised as President Bola Tinubu’s whereabout have been reported as unknown since he attended a trip to Saudi Arabia for the special World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.

It was reported that prior to the WEF summit, Tinubu embarked on a trip to the Netherlands on the invitation of the country’s Prime Minister, Mark Rutte on April 23, 2024.

As Nigerians wonder about President Tinubu's whereabouts, Vice President Kashim Shettima was also scheduled to travel to Dallas, United States of America, to represent the president at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa.

Shettima was expected to join other political and business leaders from across Africa, the US and beyond for the summit, which featured high-level dialogues, networking business sessions and plenary sessions, all scheduled at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

However, in a last minute move, the Vice President cancelled the planned trip, citing a faulty aircraft.

In response to the President's absence, some Nigerians took to social media to share their thoughts.


Popular rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju described the Nigerian government as irresponsible due to the absence of Tinubu and Shettima from the country.

He said: “Even if you ask the Presidency, they don’t know where the president is, and I have come to the conclusion that the president of Nigeria is missing. Whether or not anybody likes it, this government is irresponsible and does not believe in accountability.

“Can you imagine the president of America disappearing for one week or the British Prime Minister, or the Prime Minister of Canada or the French President? Things like this can only happen in a Banana Republic.

“Even George Orwell’s Animal Farm will do better because when the king of the jungle goes missing, all kinds of things start happening. It’s safe to say that the country is without a captain; unfortunately, there is nobody to pinpoint in this government that is capable of administering.

“The last we heard about the missing president is that his jet malfunctioned, and since then he has not been seen or sighted by anyone. Even if the president is undergoing medical tourism, Nigerians deserve to know.

“The president of a country can’t just disappear into thin air without any explanation. President Tinubu is taking Nigerians for granted, even if he does not rate Nigerians, he should rate the millions of people that voted for him. There can be no justification whatsoever for this kind of rude behaviour.”

Adeyanju also criticised the National Assembly for its inability to perform its statutory function of checks and balances in the government.

He said: “There is no National Assembly, one that is headed by Akpabio is that a National Assembly? That is just a department in the Villa, a department in the office of the Chief of Staff. The National Assembly has been reduced to a department in the Office of the Chief of Staff. That is why the president does not rate them. A National Assembly that says anything the president wants could serve as a check and balance?

“The President should have handed over to his Vice when he knew that he was going to disappear, but that was not done, and the so-called Vice was about to leave the country; we don’t even know who is in charge of the country; that’s why I said Nigeria is currently without a captain.

“Things have never been this bad in the area of checks and balances, and I’m of the view that we don’t have a legislature in the country. What we have is a department of the presidency pretending to be the legislature, which is most unfortunate.”

Another rights activist lawyer, Madubuachi Idam raised the consequences that may have occurred should Shettima be absent from the country.

He stated that both President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima’s absence from duty at the same time could lead to impeachment.

In an interview with Daily Post, Idam said: “It’s an abdication of duties by the president and the Vice President to travel out at the same time.

“The constitution says if for any reason the president is not available to discharge the functions of his office, the office of the vice president steps into his shoes and carries out the functions of that office.

“Now, when the president and his vice are not present to discharge the functions of that office, it’s an anomaly, it’s an irresponsible act.
“The president and his vice run on the same ticket, and that’s why the doctrine of necessity enables the vice president to step into the shoes of the president and carry out his duties. Now the constitution does not speculate a situation where the president and his vice are absent from office.

“The constitution did not provide for such an anomaly, it’s a clear abdication of duties by those elected officers. What happens is that the government has become headless.

“The constitution did not speculate a situation where the president and vice will not be present at a time; what the constitution provides is that when the president is not available to discharge the duties of his office, he transmits power to the vice president who will step in his shoes to carry out the functions of his office pending when normalcy will return or in the case of ill-health when he will be healthy.”

He said: “This has exposed the lacuna and irresponsible act of the president because a responsible occupier of that post is expected by the constitution to have transmitted power to the Vice president when leaving the country for any reason.

“Now, when he decided to leave the country without transmitting power and the vice president does the same, it has become worrisome – a constitutional quagmire – an impunity committed in that regard.

“For the two of them to leave the country without adhering to the constitution amounts to gross misconduct, which warrants impeachment by the National Assembly.

If we had an acting NASS, which is not a rubber stamp, it would have immediately convened a sitting and moved a motion for the impeachment of the president and vice president for acting recklessly. It’s a gross misconduct, as speculated by the constitution, and a clear case of impunity which warrants impeachment if they have the courage to do that.”

In response to the recent concerns, former spokesman of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation, Daniel Bwala was of the view that Tinubu could govern the country from anywhere in the world.

He said: “The President @officialABAT is in charge of the country and can govern from anywhere in the world whether the Vice President is also in Nigeria or not. Aso Villa is not a block industry and the President is not a bricklayer. Read Section 5 of the Constitution.”