Tuesday, July 21, 2026

‘Who is in charge of Nigeria presently?’, Atiku queries Tinubu, Shettima’s absence

“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.”

• May 6, 2024
Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Kashim Shettima
Atiku Abubakar,Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima

A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has questioned the whereabouts of President Bola Tinubu following his departure from a special session of the World Economic Forum last week in Saudi Arabia.

Following the conclusion of the forum on April 29, Mr Tinubu departed Saudi Arabia for London and arrived in the United Kingdom the following day. However, his whereabouts have been a mystery since then, and no official announcement has been made about the president’s location.

The country is without a known leader after Vice President Kashim Shettima departed Abuja for Texas, United States to represent Mr Tinubu at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit on Monday, leaving the country’s seat of power vacant.

Reacting to the “unprecedented” situation in a social media post on Monday, Mr Atiku expressed worries about the reports that the president and the vice president left the country at the same time during a period when Nigeria is undergoing a series of crises.

“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,” Mr Atiku said in his statement.

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?”, the leader of one of the main opposition parties queried.

Meanwhile, a report by Peoples Gazette on Monday showed that Mr Tinubu arrived in Paris Le Bourget, France, from London on May 2 and has remained ever since without the knowledge of most of his key aides. 

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