The Tanimu Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s decision to extend his working vacation in Europe and skip the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The party, in a statement on Tuesday by its spokesman, Ini Ememobong, described the development as an “unacceptable abdication” of presidential mandate.
Ememobong, said the Presidency’s explanation for Tinubu’s absence was disappointing and amounted to an affront to Nigerians demanding accountability from their elected president.
The Presidency had announced that Tinubu, who left Nigeria on August 30 for a three-week working vacation, had extended his stay by a few days and would return at the weekend. It also said Vice-President Kashim Shettima would represent Nigeria at UNGA in New York.
But Ememobong said Nigerians had a right to question the President’s decision to remain abroad at a time he described as critical for the country.
“It is disappointing because no reasonable parent or caretaker goes on vacation when his house is burning,” he said.
He argued that Tinubu, having sought and obtained the mandate to govern Nigeria, remained accountable to the citizens and could not treat questions over his absence as an affront.
“We must remind the President and the Presidency that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu sought for this job, and by being sworn in, he became the servant, not lord and master, of the country and all Nigerians,” Ememobong said.
The party spokesman questioned the timing of the President’s extended vacation, citing insecurity, economic difficulties and what he described as growing hopelessness among Nigerians.
“It is therefore necessary to question why the President will be going on vacation at a time when insecurity is on a steady rise, the macroeconomic indices are looking bleak, and the citizens are fed daily with renewed hopelessness,” he said.
The party also faulted Tinubu for not travelling from Europe to New York for the UNGA, arguing that his location in Europe would have made the trip relatively convenient.
“Since he went on holiday in Europe, it was expected that he would proceed from there to America for UNGA—unarguably, the biggest gathering of world leaders,” it said.
According to the PDP, the President should either be in Nigeria addressing domestic challenges or at the UNGA seeking international support for the country.
“If the President is not in Nigeria solving the problems of the country, he should be at UNGA seeking international help for the country,” the statement said.
The PDP further accused the Presidency of displaying “disrespect and disdain” towards Nigerians who have questioned the President’s prolonged absence and demanded accountability.
The Presidency, however, has maintained that Tinubu remains in touch with developments at home and continues to direct the affairs of government while abroad. It said Shettima would present Nigeria’s national statement at the UNGA and undertake other high-level engagements on behalf of the President.
The opposition party urged Nigerians to take note of the development ahead of the 2027 presidential election, saying the country needed a president prepared to work for Nigerians both domestically and internationally.
It said the President’s conduct should “guide our choices at the ballot in January, during the presidential elections,” while calling for leadership that is “ready, willing and able to work conscientiously for our country, locally and internationally.”
