Our Reporter, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what it described as an unexplained and recurring pattern of absences from the country, following his delayed return from the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Brazil.
In a statement on Sunday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said it welcomed the President back to the country “weary,” while demanding an official explanation for his whereabouts over the past five days.
“Since the summit ended on Monday, July 7, all the other world leaders who were in attendance returned home, briefed their citizens, and resumed duties. But our President only reappeared in Abuja in the early hours of Sunday, July 13—without a word, without a briefing, or any explanation as to why his return to the country had been delayed,” the statement read.
The opposition party emphasized that the five-day silence was not trivial, especially for a nation grappling with severe security and economic crises. “The President was not on holiday; he was on official duty. We therefore cannot wish those five days away and we demand a clear explanation for them,” it added.
Citing what it called a “disturbing pattern,” the ADC recalled several instances where President Tinubu allegedly vanished from public view during or after foreign trips without providing official updates. These include his January 2024 “private visit” to France, his prolonged silence after the World Economic Forum in Riyadh in April, and his unaccounted movements between China, Dubai, and London in August 2024.
The ADC described these absences as a sign of growing disregard for accountability and a troubling lack of transparency.
“Each episode of Mr. President’s mysterious disappearances has sparked all manners of speculations and rumours that are not only unhealthy to the polity, but also endanger Nigeria’s perception in the eyes of the world,” the party stated.
It warned that “a president that disappears without explanation cannot be trusted to be present to solve the crises that we face.”
It further accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of displaying “contempt for the people it governs.”
The presidency has yet to issue any statement clarifying the President’s activities or reasons for his delayed return at the time of filing this report.
