President Tinubu’s working vacation: Matters arising - The Guardian Nigeria News

In President Tinubu’s near month-long absence from the country, a lot happened. But three main things: Governors of his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), took their quarrel with FCT minister, Neysom Wike to the court of public opinion. Citizens were stupefied when Mr President failed to show up at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), despite assurances. An old argument also resurfaced, whether the President needed to constitutionally hand over to his vice, Kashim Shettima.

Not to forget the tragedies in the mines of Niger State; the casualties of chemical inhalation in Rivers State and the deaths in Ondo State, where consumers of unregistered beverages succumbed to quiet death. In the three tragedies, over 100 citizens died, mostly young people. Little outrage. Perhaps, because the chief mourner was absent.

Nigerians are disturbed that President Tinubu has not attended UNGA since President Donald Trump took charge. What became more telling was the fact that the President was already in France, doing diplomatic duties. UNGA was just a stone throw away; a continuation of the same thing that took him to France: working leave.

More so, citizens had been prepped to expect a good showing at UNGA 2026. They were promised a front seat for Tinubu and a certain meeting with Trump. Some added that funds were disbursed to Washington-based lobbyists, around $9 million, to make the Nigerian government look good. But the President still chickened out.

Back home In a campaign season, the APC is still rehearsing. The best it has done so far, is to join issues and find faults with what other parties’ candidates are proposing. They say there’s still time, three months to go before elections. Fine. But there are urgent housecleaning matters to attend to, which only President Tinubu is qualified to address as the sole administrator of the APC.

FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, is still all over the place since the last time he insulted the APC governors. There’s no one to rein him in. After the tongue-lashing, Wike has followed up with other interviews to make himself clearer. Now, some governors and party loyalists are up in arms against him. They want Wike to go, boasting they can win 2027 elections without him. Others want him to apologise.

Wike hasn’t apologised. Instead, he doubled down and widened his arguments. But sensing that he may have gone a bit far, he needed to give a background. He reminded the APC how together with his G5 colleagues who sabotaged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he rescued Bola Tinubu in 2023. He said: “When you talk of South-South, I can tell you what happened. How did he (Peter Obi) win? We in the G5, had our strategy. We said, the PDP is stronger in the South-South. And our problem would be Atiku. Therefore, instead of Atiku to take it, let it go to the Labour Party (Obi).” The strategy he said was to let Obi win and Atiku be denied.

Turning to Rivers, Wike said: “It was only in Rivers, I said, No, Obi would not win here because it would send a wrong signal somewhere and people would not understand it, and we stopped it.”

Wike is giving himself a lot of credit for Tinubu’s victory in 2023. That looks like a bargaining chip for 2027. He knows his claims are outlandish. His G5 did not affect outcomes of 2023 presidential election in the entire South-South. There is evidence that the momentum Peter Obi got was the result of his campaign messaging: that a new Nigeria was possible, as well as a general desire for change, powered mostly by the youths.

One would not deny the disruptive activities of Wike’s men in weakening the PDP in South-South. For instance, the candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, was blocked by Wike from campaigning in Rivers. Public facilities were put out of reach of Atiku’s campaign team. However, the LP secured victory in Lagos, the FCT, Nasarawa among other places, which were beyond Wike’s claims.

Of course, the Rivers’ elections were tampered with. Election observers were clear on the mutilated results sheets from locations said to be Wike’s strongholds. The BBC and YIAGA-Africa were very clear on the manipulations that took place in Rivers during the presidential election.

But Nigerians had put all that behind. It is Wike that is confessing his sins to revalidate his usefulness in 2027.

Despite the exaggeration, it sends the wrong message about democracy. Nothing in the system allows one man to claim the capacity to allocate votes and deny others their votes. It is a call on the lovers of democracy to condemn Wike’s confessions and if possible, make him to account for them. But this government is not accountable.

President Tinubu has to choose between one-man rule and the democracy he claimed to have fought for. If it is about one-man rule, perhaps military rule is a better option. It is leaner, gets the job done faster and is far less costly. In some instances, it is more accountable. Wike and his camp must be careful what they wish for.

While in France On the diplomatic turf, it’s been a comedy of errors. While President Emmanuel Macron went to New York, President Tinubu stayed back. Nigerians are asking why there seems a loss of confidence by Africa’s number one leader. The pushback from loyalists is even more appalling. They now said UNGA wasn’t that important. Really? So, why the elaborate plan in the first place? They said the President delegated his Vice, Kashim Shetima. Yes, but for how long?

President Tinubu cannot be absent at AU meetings, BRICS and UNGA and feel comfortable. If he does, Nigerians are not comfortable. They want quality representation, like that of President William Ruto of Kenya, as well as John Dramani Mahama of Ghana. We cannot be asking for a seat at the UN Security Council and not be at the table.

So, there must be an explanation for why the President couldn’t make it to UNGA. It is not accountability for spokespersons of government/loyalists to tend to browbeat citizens without addressing legitimate questions. Considering the importance of Nigeria in world affairs, this country does not deserve a back seat.

In the matter of Mr President’s nebulous working leave, Nigerians deserve clarity. Each time the President abandons the country, his chief spokesman, tersely brandishes the working leave contraption. The Constitution of the Federal Republic has no place for such. If the President is going to be away for any reason, Nigerians deserve to know the details. If it is going to be longer than three weeks, he is obligated to transfer power to his Vice. The President deserves full rest, if indeed he had been working. It helps to build confidence in the Presidency and allows a Vice to express himself.

Now that the President overstayed in France, which Presidency handlers causally explained as elongation, that sends the wrong signal; that the Constitution does not matter. There is a reason the provisions were drafted in the first place, to ensure that there is law and order.

There is also the component of transparency and accountability in government business. Citizens deserve to know how their president spend their taxes. Government business is not a private enterprise. The Tinubu government must learn to respect citizens and stop behaving as an employer. The President is an employee of the people.

Absentee legislature It is disgraceful, that the National Assembly headed by Godswill Akpabio has no idea why there is a legislature. His declaration that there was no vacancy in the Villa, in response to citizens’ concern that both President Tinubu and his Vice were out of the country at the same time, was both pompous and irresponsible. It must be stressed, that the reason it is a democracy is that logical answers are provided when citizens ask cogent questions. That the NASS under Akpabio has fully surrendered its powers to Tinubu is no news. But it is dangerous.

Tragedies in three states During Mr President’s absence, not less than 37 citizens, mostly teenagers suffocated to death in Niger State. They were locked up at some decrepit and airless NSCDC facility. They were denied oxygen.

On September 3, 2026, in Okari Jetty in Okrika, Rivers State, 37 youths were reported dead after inhaling toxic fumes during an illegal fuel siphoning exercise. Over 100 people purportedly engaged small boats to collect petroleum products from an illegal tapping point, when the accident occurred. Many were missing. That means there’s still problem with oil theft.

Meanwhile, Government Ekpemupolo (Alias Tompolo) and his Tantita Security Services own the surveillance contract to secure pipelines from oil theft. It is worth N4.5 billion monthly. The contract is so lucrative that Tompolo does charity works on the sideline, including his PBAT Door-to-Door Movement.

He has donated 34 campaign vehicles in Katsina and another 44 vehicles in Borno, among other items, including 88 speakers, 44 generators, 44 amplifiers and 44 microphones. He is not done. Yet, nobody is demanding accountability, both for electoral integrity and prudent management of state resources. And the Niger Delta is wasting.

Also in September 2026, in Odigbo Local Government Are of Ondo State, another 49 people died after consuming a local alcoholic brew called monkey tail, suspected to contain methanol. It was not a major headline. The Presidency was also too busy exchanging memos with Dr Von Batten (alias Ikemefuna) to be bothered.

There was an occasion when the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, cancelled his UNGA address to rush home to deal with an electricity crisis. President Tinubu rather extended his working leave to remain in France, despite 123 deaths of youths in distressing circumstances.

Of course, returning home while UNGA was at peak would have made his absence doubly obvious. The sneaky thing to do was wait.

Hopefully, Nigerians are on the lookout for a leader who would be accountable to them. Not one who would govern them from the moon and be arrogant about it!