The sudden ‘disappearance’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from Aso Rock has raised concerns among concerned citizens.
Naijaonpoint understands that the second citizen of Nigeria, Vice President Kashim Shettima, was also set to travel abroad recently, but due to a sudden change in plans, he was forced to remain in the country, ensuring that the Aso Rock seat of power was not left vacant.
Before Shettima’s trip to the United States, there were concerns about Tinubu’s whereabouts following his official visit to Saudi Arabia for the World Economic Forum meeting.
Reports are that Tinubu had not yet returned to Nigeria after the WEF meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which concluded on April 29, 2024.
On April 23, 2024, prior to the WEF summit, Tinubu visited the Netherlands at Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s invitation.
During his visit, President Tinubu engaged in important discussions with the Prime Minister and also met separately with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Kingdom.
While Nigerians were still wondering about Tinubu’s absence, Shettima was supposed to travel to Dallas, USA, to represent the president at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit organized by the Corporate Council on Africa.
Shettima was expected to participate in high-level dialogues, networking sessions, and plenary sessions at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, alongside other political and business leaders from Africa, the US, and beyond.
However, at the last minute, the Vice President cancelled his trip due to issues with the aircraft.
Where Is Our President?
Naijaonpoint understands that notable citizens have raised concerns about Tinubu’s whereabouts as no official statement has confirmed where the Nigerian leader is currently.
Joining the host of others in asking about Tinubu’s whereabouts, Deji Adeyanju, a popular rights activist and lawyer, described the incumbent administration as irresponsible amid reports that Shettima was set to leave the country, and Tinubu had yet to be seen in Aso Rock.
Adeyanju concluded that both the President and his Vice are taking Nigerians for granted.
“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,” Adeyanju said during a chat with the Daily Post.
He added: “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 Has Been Reduced To A Mere Department In Aso Villa
Naijaonpoint reports that the National Assembly also faced criticism from Adeyanju, who lampooned the lawmakers for their failure to fulfil their essential role of checks and balances, resulting in a void within the government.
The legal expert expressed his sorrow over the fact that the National Assembly has been diminished to a mere division within the Chief of Staff’s office of the President.
Adeyanju 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.”
Tinubu, Shettima’s Absence In Nigeria An Irresponsible Act – Idam
In a separate chat with journalists, another lawyer and rights activist, Madubuachi Idam, expressed his concern about the potential constitutional anomaly and impunity that would arise if Shettima had travelled out of the country.
Idam emphasized that it would be a dereliction of duty for both the president and the vice president to be absent simultaneously.
According to Idam, the constitution clearly states that if the president is unavailable to fulfil his responsibilities, the vice president assumes the role and carries out the functions of the office. However, when both the president and vice president are absent, it creates an abnormal situation and reflects an irresponsible act.
The legal practitioner declared that the president and vice president are elected as a team, and this is why the doctrine of necessity allows the vice president to step in and fulfil the president’s duties.
Unfortunately, he noted that the constitution does not account for a scenario where both the president and vice president are absent from office.
“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,” Idam noted.
Earlier, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, said that the country is presently on autopilot due to the absence of President Bola Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima.
Atiku stated he has been inundated by reports of the President and Vice President’s absence from the country.
He condemned the absence of the nation’s leader at a time when the nation is faced with daunting challenges.
Speaking via a post on his X handle on Monday, Atiku said one might be right to assume that the country is on autopilot.
He said, “I have been inundated by reports of the absence of the president and vice president from the country. It is unprecedented that the two leaders will be absent from the country at the same time, especially now that the nation is faced with daunting challenges. The question that readily comes to mind is who is in charge of government at this point, or is it right to assume that we are on autopilot?”.
Impeachment
According to Idam, if Tinubu and Shettima are absent from duty at the same time, it warrants impeachment.
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 – 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.”