By Kingston Magare 21.9.2026
President Bola Tinubu will stay back in Paris for a few more days after his three-week holiday expired Monday.
Presidential adviser on information and strategy Bayo Onanuga said in a statement Monday that the President will be back at the weekend, this is just as Vice President Kassim Shettima left Abuja for New York to represent Nigeria in the United Nations General Assembly.
The absence of the Nigerian number one and two left Africa Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, wondering who is running the country even as Nigerians lament over increasing price of petrol.
In a statement issued on Monday and titled, “Who is in charge of Nigeria?”, the former Vice President cited Section 145 of the Constitution, which provides for the transfer of presidential functions when the President proceeds on vacation.
“Who is exercising presidential authority in Nigeria today, and under what constitutional instrument?
“Nigeria cannot be governed by assumptions. It cannot be governed by presidential social-media posts from Europe.
“It cannot be governed by photographs from private dinners at the Élysée Palace.
“It cannot be governed on autopilot.
“These are not ordinary times. Yet the President is abroad. The Vice President is abroad. The Senate President is abroad.
“And Nigerians have not been told, in the clear constitutional language required of a serious democracy, who is exercising the powers of the President.
“President Tinubu’s private dinner with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris may serve diplomatic purposes. But Nigeria itself cannot be placed on vacation.”
Tinubu...Flying President.