Politics

‘Who Is In Charge Now?’ – Baba-Ahmed Queries Tinubu, Shettima’s Absence From Nigeria

Published August 31, 2026 at 2:42 PM

Vice President Kashim Shettima and President Bola Tinubu

Key Takeaways

PRP National Chairman, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, queried President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima’s simultaneous absence, asking who was running Nigeria’s affairs.
Baba-Ahmed spoke on Monday in Abuja at the first national summit of opposition political leaders, calling the joint absence unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.
Tinubu left Abuja for a three-week vacation in Europe starting in London, while Shettima travelled to Luanda for an African Union meeting, and Baba-Ahmed linked Tinubu’s trip to expected FBI documents.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has questioned the absence of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima from Nigeria, asking who is currently overseeing the country’s affairs.

Naija News reports that Baba-Ahmed raised the question on Monday in Abuja while speaking at the first national summit of opposition political leaders.

The PRP chairman said the simultaneous absence of the President and his deputy was unprecedented in the country’s history, wondering who was responsible for running the government while both leaders were outside Nigeria.

Baba-Ahmed asked, “Who is in charge now?”

His comments came shortly after Tinubu left Abuja for Europe to begin a three-week vacation as part of his 2026 annual leave.

The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had announced on Sunday that Tinubu would spend three weeks in Europe, with London, United Kingdom, listed as his first destination.

The President is expected to return to Nigeria after the working vacation and resume activities ahead of the January 2027 presidential election campaign.

Meanwhile, Vice President Shettima also travelled outside Nigeria.

Shettima departed Abuja for Luanda, Angola, where he is representing Tinubu at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, announced his departure on Saturday.

While addressing opposition leaders in Abuja, Baba-Ahmed alleged that Tinubu’s decision to travel abroad was connected to the anticipated release of documents by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

He claimed that the President embarked on what he described as an emergency overseas trip to prevent the possible publication of documents relating to him.