Former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has criticised President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for both travelling out of the country at the same time, calling it “the height of executive rascality.”
President Tinubu is currently on a two-week working visit to France, while Vice President Shettima travelled to Dakar, Senegal to represent Nigeria at the country’s 65th Independence Day celebration on April 4.
Wabara expressed disappointment, saying it was unacceptable for both the President and his deputy to be out of the country at once, leaving Nigeria effectively without leadership.
He called it a “serious dereliction of duty” and a sign of “utter disregard for the Nigerian people.”
While he acknowledged the President’s right to travel, Wabara stressed that proper protocol requires the President to formally hand over power to the Vice President whenever he’s away.
In this case, he argued that the Vice President should have remained in the country as Acting President, rather than also travelling abroad.
“If Nigeria needed to be represented in Senegal, the Foreign Affairs Minister could have gone,” Wabara suggested. He said both leaders leaving at the same time sends the wrong message and raises concerns about their commitment to governance.
This isn’t the first time both Tinubu and Shettima have been abroad at the same time, and Wabara believes such actions show disrespect to the citizens and the offices they hold. “Leadership is about responsibility,” he said, “not personal trips or prestige.”
Wabara also expressed concern that their absence comes at a time when the country is facing serious challenges — including violence in several states, political unrest, and widespread insecurity.
“It’s shocking that while these issues rage on, the President and his Vice would prioritise foreign trips over pressing national matters,” he said. “This is not just a poor judgment call — it’s an insult to Nigerians.”
The former Senate President, who also chairs the Board of Trustees of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), urged the National Assembly to rise to its duty and keep the Executive in check.
He warned that Nigeria’s democracy is at risk of being hijacked by what he called “executive recklessness.”
He concluded by advising President Tinubu to follow due process and uphold the principles of good governance, so that Nigeria’s democracy does not become a global laughing stock.
