Former Senate President Pius Anyim Pius has defended President Bola Tinubu’s absence from the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York. He recently had his say while speaking exclusively on ARISE NEWS’ Prime Time, and Nigerians have been reacting.
Stressing that there was nothing unusual about Tinubu delegating the responsibility of representing Nigeria at the global gathering to Vice President Kashim Shettima, Anyim stated that Nigerians are aware that the President is currently on leave.
Questioning the concerns generated by BAT’s absence, Pius argued that the Vice President is constitutionally capable of representing the country at the gathering.
His words, “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.
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.
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.
It doesn’t matter. After all, there are many heads of state who don’t go.”
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