Presidential candidate Bola Tinubu was absent from the ongoing Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) where he was duly invited.

Mr Tinubu has instead seconded his running mate, Kashim Shettima to the August gathering attended by other frontline presidential candidates; Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.

Aside from the APC presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was also absent.

The leadership of the NBA had invited the four leading presidential candidates in the 2023 elections to make presentations before the bar.

It was not immediately clear why Mr Tinubu failed to show up at the Eko Atlantic City venue of the conference which is some 5.7 km away from his Lagos abode.

There have been concerns about Mr Tinubu’s frail health which critics say make him unfit for the arduous task of leading Africa’s most populous nation, especially at a time it was facing gargantuan security and economic challenges.

The 2022 NBA Annual General Conference, with the theme “Bold Transitions”, attracted prominent legal practitioners in the country.

A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, took to social media on Monday to query the absence of Mr Tinubu at the public event wondering why the APC presidential candidate is allegedly running away from talking to Nigerians.  

He wrote, “If Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi can fly to Lagos to speak at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference, then what excuse can Bola Tinubu have if he does not show face there? It is happening in Lagos. He lives in Lagos. Lagos is his base. He claims to be from Lagos (although Osun…).”

A spokesperson for the Tinubu Campaign Organisation could not be immediately reached for comments.