Former Senate President Pius Anyim has defended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to skip the United Nations General Assembly in New York, insisting the Vice President is fully capable of standing in and that Nigerians already understand the President is on leave.
Speaking on Arise News’ Prime Time on Monday, Anyim, who also served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said there was nothing unusual about a president delegating the assignment. “I really don’t understand why his absence should be an issue,” he said, adding that the Vice President, or even the Foreign Minister, could represent the country at the gathering.
Anyim argued that the substance of UNGA lies in bilateral and multilateral side meetings rather than the main debate, where a country simply reads a national statement. He said the President’s absence would only matter if Tinubu had scheduled engagements requiring his personal attendance, and dismissed concern about a missed encounter with United States President Donald Trump, noting that such meetings are arranged well in advance.
The defence follows the Presidency’s confirmation that Tinubu will not attend the 81st session in person. In a statement on Sunday, the office of Vice President Kashim Shettima said the President had directed him to lead Nigeria’s delegation and deliver the national statement. Shettima left Abuja for New York on 20 September.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said on Monday that Tinubu was on annual leave and that Shettima carried the President’s full mandate. Idris described the arrangement as neither unusual nor a reduction of Nigeria’s diplomatic standing, saying the Vice President would take part in high-level meetings and bilateral talks with world leaders and development partners.
According to the Presidency, Tinubu left Nigeria on 30 August for what it called a three-week working vacation, travelling first to London and then to Paris, where the State House reported meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and businessman Vincent Bolloré. In a statement on Monday, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the President had extended the trip by a few days and would return at the weekend, and that he had remained in touch with home and continued to direct government affairs. Onanuga said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, would keep representing the President at events in Abuja while Shettima is away.
The context that has given the matter weight is a constitutional challenge from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. In a statement on Sunday titled “Who is in Charge of Nigeria?”, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate said 21 days had passed since Tinubu left without any public evidence that presidential authority had been formally transmitted to Shettima.
Atiku cited Section 145 of the Constitution, which provides that a president going on vacation should transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after which the Vice President acts as Acting President. He said that where no such declaration is transmitted within 21 days, Section 145(2) empowers the National Assembly, by simple majority of each chamber, to mandate the Vice President to act.
“If such a letter exists, the Presidency should publish it immediately,” Atiku said. “If it does not, then the constitutional mechanism contemplated by Section 145(2) has been triggered, and the National Assembly owes Nigerians an explanation as to why it has not acted.” He framed the issue as one of constitutional order rather than political convenience, and said the country could not be governed “by presidential social-media posts from Europe” or “on autopilot”.
Atiku also pointed to the simultaneous absence of both the President and his deputy, and to events at home during the period, among them the reported deaths of 37 people in custody in Minna. The Presidency has said Tinubu ordered an independent panel to investigate that incident while abroad, which it offered as evidence that he remained in charge.
The ADC’s national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, raised a related point on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, questioning the constitutional basis for Akume to represent the President while both Tinubu and Shettima are outside the country, and describing the situation as a dangerous precedent.
By several accounts, this is the third consecutive UNGA at which Tinubu has delegated Nigeria’s representation to Shettima since taking office in 2023. A provisional speakers’ list from the News Agency of Nigeria had listed Nigeria for the second day of the general debate on 23 September, with Shettima now set to deliver the address.
What is confirmed is that Tinubu is abroad, that Shettima will speak for Nigeria, and that the Presidency insists governance has continued uninterrupted. What remains unresolved is whether the Section 145 declaration was made, and whether the National Assembly will respond to the demand that it clarify the position.