Former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has expressed disappointment over the simultaneous foreign trips taken by President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, calling it “the height of executive rascality.”
Wabara made the remarks on Sunday in response to Tinubu’s two-week working visit to France and Shettima’s trip to Dakar, Senegal, where he represented the President during Senegal’s 65th Independence Day celebrations on April 4.
The former Senate President criticized both leaders for leaving Nigeria without leadership, describing it as a “serious dereliction of duty and a flagrant disregard for the people of Nigeria.” He emphasized, “While the President has the right to travel when necessary, he should have handed over power to the Vice President in an acting capacity. It is entirely inappropriate for the Vice President, who should assume the role of Acting President, to also leave the country while the President is away.”
Wabara further suggested that if Nigeria’s presence was required in Senegal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs should have been delegated to represent the country, rather than the Vice President abandoning the nation’s leadership.
As the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wabara expressed surprise that both the President and Vice President would simultaneously abandon governance for foreign trips. He questioned how a two-week vacation in France and attending Senegal’s Independence Day celebrations could take precedence over pressing national issues.
He argued that the absence of both leaders at a time when Nigeria faced multiple urgent matters was a “disrespect” to the country and the offices they held. Wabara urged the National Assembly to fulfill its constitutional duty of providing checks and balances to the executive to prevent any abuse of power.
Finally, Wabara warned against what he termed “executive rascality” and urged the President to adhere to established governance procedures, cautioning against making Nigeria’s democracy a “laughing stock” on the global stage.
