{
  "id": 9544890,
  "title": "Tinubu, Shettima first president, VP to make it habit of abandoning Nigeria’s leadership – Odinkalu",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/tinubu-shettima-first-president-vp-to-make-it-habit-of-abandoning",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-24T11:06:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Post Nigeria",
    "slug": "daily-post-nigeria",
    "url": "https://dailypost.ng/2026/09/24/tinubu-shettima-first-president-vp-to-make-it-habit-of-abandoning-nigerias-leadership-odinkalu/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former NHRC Chairman Chidi Odinkalu has criticized President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for frequently abandoning Nigeria without providing proper leadership. Currently, Tinubu is on an extended vacation in Paris while Shettima attends the UN General Assembly in New York. Odinkalu argues that the absence of Tinubu and Shettima is unprecedented, as former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Musa Yar'Adua, and Muhammadu Buhari would always hand over power to their vice presidents when they stepped away from the country.\n\nAppearing on Channels Television's Politics Today, Odinkalu stated, \"This is the first administration where the vice president and the president are making it a habit to leave the country without providing proper leadership. It never happened before. Usually, it's been a common rule and a strong tradition in government that no president would leave the country while the vice president was also away. It never happened.\" He emphasized that it was not permitted and highlighted that no president, including Buhari, Obasanjo, Yar'Adua, and Jonathan, would contemplate this during their time in office.\n\nOdinkalu further explained that Section 145 of the constitution does not permit a \"working vacation\" while abroad. He added, \"Under Obasanjo, Obasanjo would never contemplate it. Yar'Adua did not contemplate it. Jonathan did not allow it.\"",
  "summary": "Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Chidi Odinkalu, has accused President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima of habitually abandoning Nigeria without leadership. Tinubu is currently in Paris on an extended vacation while Shettima is attending the 81st United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, in New York, United States. Faulting their absence […] Tinubu,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Premium Times",
        "title": "Tinubu hails $800m Ima Gas FID as Nigeria unlocks 50-year-old gas resource",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/tinubu-hails-800m-ima-gas-fid-as-nigeria-unlocks-50-year-old-gas",
        "published": "2026-09-23T16:19:16.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Daily Post Nigeria",
        "title": "‘Nigeria is not the only one’ – Gov Sule defends Tinubu’s UNGA absence",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/nigeria-is-not-the-only-one-gov-sule-defends-tinubus-unga-absence",
        "published": "2026-09-23T20:39:32.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}