The National Grand Patron of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria, and a former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s absence from the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying the Vice President can adequately represent Nigeria and questioning why the President’s absence should be an issue.
Speaking exclusively with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Anyim, who also served as former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said there was nothing unusual about the President delegating the responsibility to Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is currently representing Nigeria at the high-level gathering.
“I really don’t understand why his absence should be an issue. I think Nigerians know very well that the President is on short leave, a short vacation.
“He simply assigned his Vice President to undertake the assignment. I don’t know why we are making so much out of this. There is nothing that compares to the President being at UNGA. The Vice President can represent the country, even the Foreign Minister.”
On the significance of the President’s absence, Anyim said UNGA comprises the General Assembly and various bilateral and multilateral side meetings, adding that merely attending the session to read Nigeria’s statement was redundant if no side engagements had been scheduled.
“The structure of UNGA involves the General Assembly and side meetings. Side meetings could be bilateral or multilateral. What you present in that General Assembly statement is simply reading a statement from your country. This is something that the Vice President can do. If the President did not schedule side meetings and is only to appear in the General Assembly to present a statement, I don’t know what he’s losing.
“Unless there were scheduled side meetings that he is unable to attend, if there are no side meetings or other engagements around UNGA, simply appearing at the General Assembly to read an address is redundant,” he said.
On the possibility of President Tinubu meeting with US President Donald Trump, and its potential benefit to Nigeria, Anyim dismissed the significance of the proposed seating arrangement, saying sitting next to the American leader did not necessarily mean a meeting would take place because Trump’s schedule would have been fixed in advance.
“It’s not about meeting the President by chance. The fact that you sit together with the President doesn’t mean anything. The President of America normally would have a schedule set ahead of time. I don’t see the reason for all the fuss about the President not being at UNGA.”
The former Senate President maintained that the President’s absence was not unusual, arguing that several heads of state do not attend the UN General Assembly.
“It doesn’t matter. After all, there are many heads of state who don’t go.”
Favour Odima
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