Spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, alleged on Arise News on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu is deliberately absent from the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York because he is “hiding” from a possible arrest by United States President Donald Trump.
Okonkwo, speaking on behalf of the opposition campaign, said Tinubu has not attended any UNGA session since assuming the Nigerian presidency and suggested that a “reasonable person” would conclude the president is avoiding the United States.
“Onanuga is there saying what he does not know, and the President is somewhere hiding. Maybe because he does not want the Venezuela option, because he ought to be at the UNGA in person… A reasonable man should say that he is hiding from the United States of America,” Okonkwo said.
The campaign spokesman also referenced a previous statement by former Nigerian UN ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, who had reportedly told supporters that Tinubu would sit “in the front row with President Trump” at the assembly. “The President did not go. But there is a nexus,” Okonkwo added.
“How come President Trump said anybody who is involved in drug trafficking would be taken and put in jail? The Venezuelan president is in jail because of that… Now, how come there is a paper filed by your President that he does not want his file to be released in the United States of America? That is allegedly for his involvement in alleged drug dealing, and, of course, we all know that he paid $460,000 in a plea bargain. That is not an allegation. That is a fact,” he claimed.
The 81st UNGA, convened in New York City, brings together world leaders to discuss global issues. Nigeria has traditionally sent a delegation to the assembly, though the president’s personal attendance has varied.
No comment was immediately available from the Office of President Tinubu or from the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Okonkwo’s accusations.
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
