Former presidential spokesman Laolu Akande expressed concerns about President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima both being away on foreign trips at the same time, stating that it’s not ideal for governance.
He shared his views during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Thursday.
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“It is important for one of them to be on the ground because the work of governance requires a lot of hand-holding,” he said.
“In my view, we still have a very serious problem of sustained trust in the relationship between the President and the Vice President over time,” Akande added.
President Tinubu left Nigeria on October 2, 2024, for a two-week work trip in the United Kingdom, while Vice President Shettima departed Abuja on Wednesday for Sweden, where he will spend two days representing Nigeria in bilateral discussions with the Scandinavian country.
In a statement on Wednesday, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the two leaders “are fully engaged with the nation’s affairs, even while they are away” and there is no vacuum in governance.
However, Akande said, “The ideal thing is for us not to have a situation where both the president and the vice president are not in town, that’s the ideal situation.
I remember that during the eight years I served, that happened only once during the burial of the Queen (of England) which also fell at the same time as the UNGA and I knew how the president and the vice president were checking on each other to ensure that somebody gets back.
“So, in eight years, they managed to ensure that for the most part, one person is always on the ground. I know quite a few times when the vice president had to just wrap up foreign trips because something happened and the president
will have to travel.”
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