from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – NIGERIA’S official, albeit factionalised, opposition has slammed the extension of President Bola Tinubu’s vacation and his inability or alleged unwillingness to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The reaction by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to the statement issued by the Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
Tinubu will return at the weekend.
“The statement, which is issued in utmost bad faith, is as disappointing as it is insulting to Nigerians,” Ini Ememobong, PDP National Publicity Secretary, said.
“It is disappointing because no reasonable parent or caretaker goes on vacation when his house is burning,” he continued.
“The underlying tone of the message is that Nigerians, no matter how highly or lowly placed, should not question why the President – a servant of the Nigerian people – should be held accountable for his decision to be absent from the meeting of global leaders.”
Furthermore, PDP argued that when Tinubu went on holiday in Europe, from the end of August, it was expected that he would proceed from there to America for UNGA.
“But the President and the Presidency seem to suggest that the President is at liberty to determine which tasks he handles and from where he handles them. There is no greater insult to the presidential mandate than this,” Ememobong said.
“If the President is not in Nigeria solving the problems of the country, he should be at UNGA seeking international help for the country, but our President is lounging and enjoying himself in a country whose president is at UNGA, and his handlers are questioning the rights of the President’s employers to demand accountability.”
Tinubu is in France.
He and the All Progressives Congress (APC) will seek re-election when the West African country goes to the polls in January and February 2027.
– CAJ News