Odinkalu Critiques Tinubu and Shettima's Leadership Absence

Chidi Odinkalu, the former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, criticized President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for their simultaneous absences from Nigeria, with Tinubu on vacation in Paris and Shettima attending the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. During an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Odinkalu stated that this situation is unprecedented in Nigeria's history, emphasizing that no previous president would leave the country while the vice president was also absent.

He referenced former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Musa Yar’Adua, and Muhammadu Buhari, who adhered to the tradition of ensuring leadership continuity by not traveling abroad simultaneously. Odinkalu remarked that this administration is the first to make such a practice habitual, highlighting that Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution does not account for a "working vacation" and traditionally mandates that leadership remains intact during such absences.