By David Owei<\/p>\n
*A seat was reportedly secured for Bola near United States President Donald Trump at the world\u2019s most important annual diplomatic gathering. Yet, for the third consecutive year, Tinubu refused to occupy it.* <\/p>\n
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded a full explanation from President Tinubu over his repeated absence from the United Nations General Assembly, asking whether the President\u2019s documented history with United States law-enforcement agencies has become a burden on Nigeria\u2019s foreign relations.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Tinubu stayed away from the 79th UNGA session in 2024, the 80th in 2025 and now the 81st in 2026, repeatedly sending Vice President Kashim Shettima to stand in for him.<\/p>\n
He said three consecutive absences could no longer be dismissed as coincidence or routine delegation but constituted a pattern of presidential evasion requiring an honest explanation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the world\u2019s most important diplomatic gatherings. It brings together the representatives of the UN\u2019s 193 member states and provides a unique platform for presidents and prime ministers to defend their countries\u2019 interests, negotiate partnerships and shape global decisions on trade, security and development,\u201d Atiku said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVice President Shettima may represent Nigeria capably, but representation by delegation cannot permanently substitute for the personal authority, visibility and responsibility of the President.<\/p>\n
\u201cTinubu cannot continue to treat Nigeria\u2019s seat at the world\u2019s biggest diplomatic table as though it were an inconvenient appointment that can be endlessly outsourced.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresidential absence on the global stage has consequences. UNGA is not merely a ceremonial gathering or an annual photo opportunity. Its sidelines are where leaders hold decisive bilateral meetings, court investors, negotiate trade partnerships, mobilise development finance and make the case for their countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a President makes himself absent from that stage for three consecutive years, his country loses opportunities. Investment does not follow silence. International capital does not pursue a country whose leader repeatedly abandons the room in which consequential economic relationships are being built.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cost is eventually transferred to ordinary citizens: fewer investments mean fewer businesses and fewer jobs. Reduced capital inflows place additional pressure on the local currency. A weaker naira raises the cost of imports, production, transportation and food. These are among the economic pressures now punishing Nigerian families through the worst cost-of-living crisis in living memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cTinubu may consider attending UNGA a matter of personal prerogative, but the economic and diplomatic consequences of his absence are being paid by Nigerians. A President may surrender his seat, but a nation cannot escape the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atiku described as extraordinary the reported announcement by Nigeria\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jimoh Ibrahim, that he had secured Tinubu a seat \u201cnot too far from where the US President, Donald Trump, will be seated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe seat was secured, but the President disappeared,\u201d Atiku said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf proximity to President Trump was considered such a diplomatic achievement, why did Tinubu abandon the opportunity and send his deputy? Why celebrate securing a strategic seat for the President when the President had no intention of occupying it?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat contradiction becomes even more scandalous when Nigerians remember that Tinubu\u2019s administration committed up to $9 million of Nigeria\u2019s scarce foreign exchange to American lobbyists supposedly hired to improve its standing before the government and people of the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did Nigerians purchase with that money? Why spend millions of dollars lobbying Washington while Tinubu repeatedly stays away from New York? Why hire lobbyists to speak for Nigeria in America when the Nigerian President cannot summon the courage to appear at the world\u2019s biggest diplomatic gathering on American soil?<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the lobbyists fail, or is Tinubu\u2019s American baggage simply too heavy for any public-relations firm to carry?\u201d<\/p>\n
Atiku said the President\u2019s persistent avoidance of the United States inevitably invites troubling questions.<\/p>\n
*\u201cIs Tinubu afraid that he could become Donald Trump\u2019s next Nicol\u00e1s Maduro* ?<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he haunted by the controversies surrounding his American academic claims and his documented drug-related forfeiture history?<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this the kind of President Nigeria deserves \u2014 one who projects bravado at home but appears terrified of scrutiny abroad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Atiku said these questions were legitimate because of Case No. 93 C 4483 before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in which the United States government instituted forfeiture proceedings concerning funds held in multiple accounts in the name of Bola Tinubu and associated companies.<\/p>\n
He noted that the verified complaint was brought under federal laws governing the forfeiture of assets that were connected to narcotics trafficking and money laundering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe complaint stated that the funds represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking and money laundering,\u201d Atiku said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA supporting sworn affidavit by an Internal Revenue Service criminal-investigation agent similarly stated that funds in accounts controlled by Bola Tinubu were connected to drug-trafficking proceeds. The proceedings eventually resulted in the forfeiture of approximately $460,000 to the United States government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerians are therefore entitled to ask whether Tinubu\u2019s three consecutive UNGA absences have anything to do with this documented American history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not asserting that Tinubu is legally prohibited from entering the United States. The Presidency has announced no such restriction. But if no legal, diplomatic, medical or personal impediment exists, why has Tinubu repeatedly avoided the UNGA since 2024?<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he afraid of renewed scrutiny? Is he uncomfortable appearing on American soil amid continuing public interest in the narcotics drug related forfeiture proceedings? Has one man\u2019s personal history become a burden on Nigeria\u2019s diplomatic engagement?\u201d<\/p>\n
Atiku said Tinubu\u2019s conduct presented a glaring contrast between the image he cultivated at home and the timidity he displayed on the international stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why is Tinubu eternally paranoid about the global podium, especially when that podium stands in the United States?<\/p>\n
\u201cHere is a President who professes tigritude at home, draped in an assortment of aliases, including \u2018Jagaban,\u2019 the leader of warriors in the Borgu Emirate, and \u2018Asiwaju,\u2019 the one who supposedly leads from the front, but who becomes a whimpering, lilly livered and timid chicken on the global stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria\u2019s foreign standing has never been more miniaturised. Under Tinubu, the country rarely features prominently in continental leadership, the Commonwealth or world affairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis government deployed Nigerian fighter jets and troops to Benin Republic following the December 2025 attempted coup while bandits, terrorists and freelance criminals continued to terrorise Nigerians at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria could project military power across its border, yet its President could not project Nigeria\u2019s voice from its seat at the United Nations. That contradiction is humiliating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atiku demanded that the Presidency state unequivocally whether Tinubu was free to travel to the United States and disclose the real reason for his third consecutive UNGA absence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is no impediment, the Presidency must explain this serial absenteeism. If an impediment exists, Nigerians have a right to know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria is bigger than Bola. Our diplomatic influence, economic interests and international reputation must not be subordinated to Tinubu\u2019s American baggage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter committing up to $9 million to American lobbyists, Nigerians deserve more than silence, evasions and another empty presidential seat at the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this the kind of President Nigeria deserves?<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Bola, your seat was reportedly secured near President Donald Trump. Why did you refuse to occupy it?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly are you afraid of in America?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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