Tinubu won’t be absentee President– Onanuga

The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will not govern the country from abroad, Bayo Onanuga, his spokesman, has said.

Tinubu was declared winner of the February 25, presidential poll and would be sworn in on May 29, though the candidates of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; and the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, are challenging his victory at the tribunal.

Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Onanuga, a former Managing Director (MD) of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), also touched on what Tinubu will most likely do in his first 10 days in office.

Responding to some Nigerians who are saying that Tinubu may govern from London like President Muhammadu Buhari at a certain time, Onanuga said that won’t happen.

He said, “You cannot imagine the kind of pressure people who are looking for positions in the government are piling on ordinary members of the committee; not to talk of the President-elect. People have been bringing all manner of requests.

“So, as the press release rightly pointed out, the travel was just to avoid pressure and distraction. He wanted to go to London to see his grandchildren, but I think that at the last minute, he decided not to go. He came back home instead.

“Also, he was in Saudi Arabia before the elections, so he decided not to go there again. So, he cut those ones and then decided to come home.”

On whether the President-elect will settle fully in Nigeria and face the challenges ahead, he said, “I believe he would do so. But you know we now live in a global village, as they say.

“So, even if he is in Russia, he can hold Zoom meetings and do all kinds of things. But I can assure you that he will be here physically to do his job. He will not be an absentee kind of president.”