Tinubu not only African leader absent from 81st UN General Assembly – Bayo Onanuga
*Says president “hale and hearty”
*He doesn’t have to be physically present in Abuja to perform – Presidency
By KEMI KASUMU
“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.”
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is hale and hearty, says his special adviser on information and strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga in a statement posted via his X handle on Monday September 28, 2026.
According to Onanuga, Tinubu has been on a working vacation, which he is perfectly entitled to, adding that, “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.
“And we have seen that he has indeed been working, meeting investors in France, most recently facilitating a $7 billion deep-sea port in Ogun Waterside, an initiative of the Ogun State Government.
“Two other important African leaders were not in New York for the UNGA: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Ramaphosa booked himself off public engagements. Johannesburg and Pretoria made no uproar over Ramaphosa’s absence at UNGA.
“And Egypt did not erupt that Sisi did not go to New York. The Nigerian President announced he was taking his annual vacation and delegated attendance to his able and dependable Vice President.
“Yet Peter Obi pretends to be unaware of President Tinubu’s whereabouts and asks the puerile question his followers are asking on X.
“President Tinubu will return home this week to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary and honour MKO Abiola, the martyr of the democracy we enjoy today, by attending the premiere of a movie in MKO’s memory in Lagos,” he said.
The DEFENDER reports that Bayo Onanuga’s announcement of Tinubu’s honouring MKO Abiola in October has been viewed as misplacement as, according to critics, celebration of the Forth Republic democracy as announced on June 6, 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023), has since been changed from May 29 to June 12.
The change was made in recognition of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, widely regarded as won by Chief MKO Abiola, and the struggle for democracy that followed its annulment.
On June 12, 2018, Buhari formally commemorated the June 12 and conferred the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) posthumously on MKO Abiola same day.
The new date took effect as the national Democracy Day from June 12, 2019. Buhari later signed the amendment to the Public Holidays Act to accommodate the June 12 as Democracy Day on June 10, 2019.
