But for a last minute change of plans, both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima would have travelled out of the country at the same time, thereby leaving the Aso Rock seat of power.
Prior to Shettima’s planned trip to the United States of America, there have been concerns over Tinubu’s whereabouts one week after his official trip to Saudi Arabia for the special World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.
BusinessNG observed that the president is yet to return to Nigeria after the WEF meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which ended on April 29, 2024
Before the WEF summit, Tinubu embarked on an official trip to the Netherlands on the invitation of the country’s Prime Minister, Mark Rutte on April 23, 2024.
While in the country, President Tinubu engaged in high-level discussions with the Prime Minister, as well as held separate meetings with His Royal Majesty, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Kingdom.
While Nigerians are still grappling with Tinubu’s absence from the country, Vice President Kashim Shettima was scheduled to jet out to Dallas, United States of America, where he would have represented 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 across Africa, the US and beyond for the summit featuring high-level dialogues, networking business sessions and the plenary, all scheduled for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.
But in a last minute move, the Vice President cancelled the planned trip, citing a faulty aircraft.
Tinubu missing, Nigeria without president – Adeyanju
Popular rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju said Tinubu is missing, stressing that the Nigerian Government is irresponsible following Tinubu absence and Shettima’s planned absence from the country.
Adeyanju accused Tinubu and Shettima of taking Nigerians for granted.
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.”
National Assembly silent over Tinubu’s absence
Adeyanju berated the National Assembly over its inability to perform its statutory function of checks and balances, hence the vacuum created in government.
The constitutional lawyer lamented that the National Assembly has been reduced to a department in the Office of the President’s Chief of Staff.
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.”
