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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu is hale and hearty and will return to Nigeria this week to mark the country’s 66th Independence Anniversary, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said.
Onanuga, in a statement posted on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956, on Sunday, dismissed concerns over the President’s whereabouts, saying he had been on a working vacation to which he was entitled.
He maintained that Tinubu did not need to be physically present in Abuja to discharge his presidential responsibilities, citing his engagements with investors in France and efforts to facilitate a $7bn deep-sea port project in Ogun State.
“Nigeria’s President is hale and hearty. He has been on a working vacation, which he is perfectly entitled to. In this digital age, he does not need to be physically present in Abuja to do the work for which he was elected in 2023,” Onanuga said.
He cited the proposed $7bn deep-sea port in Ogun Waterside, an initiative of the Ogun State Government, as evidence of the President’s ongoing official engagements during his vacation.
Onanuga also defended Tinubu’s absence from the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, noting that the President had announced his annual vacation and delegated Nigeria’s representation to Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
Drawing comparisons with other African leaders, he said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also did not attend the UNGA session.
He said Ramaphosa had opted out of public engagements, while Egypt had not witnessed similar public concerns over el-Sisi’s absence.
The presidential aide, however, criticised former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi for questioning Tinubu’s whereabouts, accusing him of pretending not to know that the President was on vacation.
“Yet Peter Obi pretends to be unaware of President Tinubu’s whereabouts and asks the puerile question his followers are asking on X,” he said.
Onanuga further disclosed that Tinubu would return to Nigeria this week to participate in the country’s 66th Independence Anniversary celebrations and attend the premiere of a film in Lagos in honour of the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola.
He said the President’s planned attendance at the movie premiere was also intended to honour Abiola, whom he described as a martyr of Nigeria’s democracy.
Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, remains a prominent figure in Nigeria’s democratic history.
The presidential aide’s statement comes amid public questions about Tinubu’s whereabouts and his absence from the UN General Assembly, where Shettima led Nigeria’s delegation.
