A former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu, has accused President Bola Tinubu of making it a habit to abandon Nigeria without leadership.
Odinkalu, a professor and lawyer, while reacting to Tinubu’s absence due to his extended vacation in Europe, said that the administration was the first in which its principals are making a habit of abandoning the country without leadership.
He also refuted claims that Nigeria’s President can administer the country virtually beyond the 21 days stipulated by the Constitution, as, according to him, “Tinubu cannot interminably run Nigeria like Paul Biya runs Cameroon”.
“So, I think running a country requires common sense. And this is the first time, this is the first administration where the principals, the Vice President and the President, are making a habit of abandoning the country without leadership.
“It never happened before. As a rule, as a convention, pretty much a binding convention of government, no president allowed himself to be out of the country with the vice president at the same time. It never happened. It was not permitted,” Odinkalu said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
“This is the first time that it is a habit. And under (Muhammadu) Buhari, whenever Buhari was going out of the country, (Yemi) Osinbajo was required to be back in the country. Under (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo, Obasanjo would never contemplate it. (Former President Umar Musa) Yar ‘Adua did not contemplate it. (Former President Goodluck) Jonathan did not allow it.”
“The question therefore you’ve got to pose is do the current people running the country even think or understand what the obligations of running the country are before we get into the constitutional text, because if they don’t understand this, no matter how much you try to read the text, they will subvert it, and it is this fundamental mission that I’m interested in much more than the mechanistic reading of a text that people are not interested in operating,” he added.
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The lawyer further said that with Tinubu’s Absence, Nigeria has become an “ungoverned territory,” as the people leading have abdicated their responsibility.
‘Japa,’ ‘That’s Exactly What Our President Is Doing’
Odinkalu, who described the President’s absence as ‘japa,’ a local word used to describe the act of leaving one’s country for greener pastures, said that the possibility of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) acting on behalf of Tinubu does not exist by virtue of Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution.
The former NHRC chairman, therefore, urged presidents not to take their countries for granted.
President Tinubu had departed Abuja for Europe three weeks ago to begin a three-week vacation as part of his annual leave.
The President, whose first destination was London, United Kingdom, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, before moving to Paris, France, was expected to return to Nigeria after the working vacation to join the campaign ahead of the January 2027 general elections.
The President met with French President Emmanuel Macron and businessman Vincent Bollore, whose media group includes Canal+, Multichoice and Universal Music Group.
But Tinubu extended what his aide described as a working vacation by a few days.
His absence has generated debates, with former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar questioning President Tinubu’s absence from the 81st United Nations General Assembly and calling for an explanation.
But the presidency said that Vice President Shettima, who is representing the President at the global conference, would present Nigeria’s national statement.
