Concerns Mount As ADC Warns Of Risks Linked To Tinubu And Shettima’s Absence

Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has expressed disapproval of President Bola Tinubu and Vise President Kashim Shettima’s absence from Nigeria, calling it a “very dangerous precedent.”

While Shettima departed Abuja on September 20 for New York to represent the President at the 81st United Nations General Assembly, Tinubu has been on a working vacation since August 30.

The presidency has insisted that neither man’s absence has affected governance, claiming that Tinubu is still in contact with domestic events and is still in charge of running the government.

Additionally, it stated that Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, who has represented the President at certain formal events, would continue to do so while Shettima was in New York.

However, Abdullahi questioned the constitutional foundation for Akume’s presidential representation in the absence of both Tinubu and Shettima during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.

“Is SGF Akume now the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Is that what they are telling us? Is it the chain of succession that is spelt out by the Nigerian Constitution? Is the SGF, an appointee of the president, the one who should be in charge of the country when the president and vice president are not around?

“They insult the sensibility of Nigerians, they insult the Constitution, they behave as if Nigerian will cease to exist after this after them. What they are doing is dangerous and they should realise that this will end one day. They are setting a very dangerous precedent, nobody is in charge of Nigeria now,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC spokesperson also argued that the Constitution does not recognise a “working vacation” for the President in which a Nigerian president can “relocate to another country.”

May God help our land and guide us towards peace, unity, and prosperity.