The Presidency on Monday says that President Bola Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria this week after spending several weeks abroad on what his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has described as a working vacation.
NDC Presidential candidate Peter Obi had on Sunday joined the growing number of Nigerians asking for the President’s whereabouts.
In a statement on X over the weekend, Obi had while extolling Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama’s remarkable address delivered at the 81st United Nations General Assembly, noted that the international community has commended his leadership and the substance of his address.
According to the former Anambra State governor, it is a reminder of what leadership can produce when competence, capacity, compassion, commitment and character come together in the service of a nation.
“Against this background, many are asking: Where is the President of Africa’s most populous nation, a country of more than 200 million people – more than Ghana – whose leader has been absent from the global stage for three consecutive UNGAs”, he asked?
But in a post on X on Monday, Onanuga said the President was “hale and hearty” and had continued to work while away from Nigeria, arguing that Tinubu did not need to be physically present in Abuja to discharge his responsibilities as President.
“He has been on a working vacation, which he is perfectly entitled to. In this digital age, he does not need to be physically present in Abuja to do the work for which he was elected in 2023,” Onanuga said on Sunday.
He cited Tinubu’s meetings with investors in France, including what he described as the President’s recent role in facilitating a $7 billion deep-sea port in Ogun Waterside, an initiative of the Ogun State Government
Onanuga’s comments come amid criticism from opposition figures over Tinubu’s prolonged absence from Nigeria and his decision not to physically attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Onanuga, in a post on X, said the President was “hale and hearty” and had continued to work while away from Nigeria, arguing that Tinubu did not need to be physically present in Abuja to discharge his responsibilities as President.
“He has been on a working vacation, which he is perfectly entitled to. In this digital age, he does not need to be physically present in Abuja to do the work for which he was elected in 2023,” Onanuga said on Sunday.
He cited Tinubu’s meetings with investors in France, including what he described as the President’s recent role in facilitating a $7 billion deep-sea port in Ogun Waterside, an initiative of the Ogun State Government.
Onanuga’s comments come amid criticism from opposition figures over Tinubu’s prolonged absence from Nigeria and his decision not to physically attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The President left Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency initially described as a three-week annual vacation, travelling first to London before moving to Paris.
The Presidency subsequently announced that he had extended the working vacation by a few days and would return at the weekend.
Vice President Kashim Shettima represented Tinubu at the UNGA in New York, marking the third consecutive year that the President delegated his Vice President to lead Nigeria’s delegation to the gathering.
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar had also questioned Tinubu’s continued absence, asking whether the President had transmitted a written declaration to the leadership of the National Assembly to enable Shettima to act as President while he was away.
