The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has criticised the absence of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima from Nigeria, describing the situation as a “very dangerous precedent.”
Tinubu has been away from the country since August 30 on a working vacation, while Shettima left Abuja on September 20 for New York to represent the President at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The Presidency has maintained that the absence of both men has not disrupted governance, saying Tinubu remains in touch with developments at home and continues to direct the affairs of government.
It also said that with Shettima in New York, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who has represented the President at some official events, would continue to do so.
However, speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Abdullahi questioned the constitutional basis for Akume’s representation of the President in the absence of both Tinubu and Shettima.
“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.”
He said the circumstances warranted the National Assembly reconvening from its recess to address the situation.
Abdullahi, however, alleged that the lawmakers would not reconvene because, in his view, they were too closely aligned with President Tinubu.
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