President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s absence from the country has generated an altercation between the 2023 presidential flagbearer of the PDP Atiku Abubakar and Daniel Bwala, his former spokesman.
Atiku had recently challenged the presidency to inform Nigerians the whereabout of the president who has not been seen in public for clos to two weeks.
The former vice president had accused the president and Kassim Shetima, the current vice president of leaving the country rudderless at a critical time when their presence is greatly required due to the challenges facing the country.
The former PDP presidential candidate’s remarks came following serious concerns among Nigerians on the absence of President Tinubu who was last seen in public when he attended the World Economic Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 26.
The president has reportedly travelled from Saudi Arabia to France where he’s currently receiving medical treatment. The Source magazine cannot authoritatively confirm this report.
The Presidency has also kept mum over the issue, thus causing more apprehension among not a few Nigerians.
Reacting, Bwala said the physical presence of the president is not required to govern the country, stating that Tinubu can rule from anywhere in the world.
Citing section 5 of the Nigerian Constitution, Bwala who dumped the PDP early this year, and has since been supporting the president stated that the president and his vice are not required by the law to be present in the country before they can govern.
The former spokesman for Atiku made the remark on his official X handle on Monday.
He said: “The president @officialABAT is in charge of the country and can govern from anywhere in the world whether the vice president is also in Nigeria or not. Aso Villa is not a block industry and the president is not a bricklayer. Read Section 5 of the constitution.”
While demanding information on the whereabout of President Tinubu, PDP former candidate said it’s unprecedented that the president and his vice will leave the country at the same time, accusing them of abandoning the country at a time when she’s facing “daunting challenges”.
“I have been inundated by reports of the absence of the president and vice president from the country.
“It is unprecedented that the two leaders will be absent from the country at the same time, especially now that the nation is faced with daunting challenges.
“The question that readily comes to mind is: who is in charge of government at this point, or is it right to assume that we are on autopilot?” Atiku said on his X handle on Monday.
The magazine reported that Vice President Shetima was to travel to the United States to represent President Tinubu, but later forced to abandon the trip after the Presidential aircraft developed a fault.
