Arise Television’s Morning Show anchor, Rufai Oseni, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his failure to formally hand over power during his recent absence from Nigeria.
Oseni said Tinubu had set a “bad precedent” by failing to hand over power after being away from the country for over 21 days.
He also criticised the National Assembly, particularly the Senate under Senate President Godswill Akpabio, for failing to hold the President accountable over the issue.
Oseni made the remarks on Wednesday while discussing Tinubu’s absence from the country and the role of the National Assembly during the period.
He said, “President Tinubu has set a bad precedent by not handing over after 21 days.
“Moreover, the National Assembly, which is a big rubber stamp — and let me use the word, a placeholder National Assembly — has set an equally worse precedent by not holding him accountable.
“With the precedent we have set today, President, you know, please, you can go as much as you want. You don’t even need to write the National Assembly because they are placeholders.”
Oseni also questioned Akpabio’s role during the President’s absence, noting that both the Senate President and the Vice President were, at various times, out of the country while Tinubu was abroad.
“In all of this, what was the Senate President doing? He was going to say, ‘I’m not the president; stop calling me the acting president, too.’ All of them were away.
“There was a time, even he was in Rome, the Vice President was out of the country, and President Tinubu was in France,” he said.
The broadcaster further criticised the public reception accorded Tinubu upon his return, saying supporters welcomed the President despite the controversy surrounding the constitutional requirement for a transfer of power.
“And how did the supporters pay him back when he came? They lined up all the streets of Lagos.
“So today, we now welcome back people who break and violate the Constitution and clap for them,” Oseni added.
