A northern Islamic cleric Sheikh Sunusi Khalid, has torn into politicians already pushing President Bola Tinubu for another term, saying it is wrong to hunt for votes when ordinary people do not even know where the president is.
In a video released under Sheikh Sunusi Khalid Media that raced across social media on Friday, the white bearded scholar asked how anyone could campaign for a man whose location remains a puzzle to the public. He added that even those who claim to know the city still cannot say what the president is doing there.
The outburst comes as the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign council, led by Senator Abdulaziz Yari, tours the north to court Islamic leaders ahead of the 2027 election. The team has met scholars from Izala, Tijjaniyya, JIBWIS and Qadiriyya groups in Plateau, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kano. Some clerics have offered prayers and pledged support. Others have told the visitors to talk about results on security, prices and daily life rather than religion.
Tinubu left Nigeria on 30 August for what the presidency called a three week working vacation. He first stayed in London, then moved to Paris. In France he met President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace and also sat with businessman Vincent Bollore. Officials later said the break had been stretched by a few days and that the president would return at the weekend. They insist he has kept running the country from abroad, including an order to probe the deaths of 37 detained miners in Minna.
While Tinubu remains in Europe, Vice President Kashim Shettima travelled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume has been standing in at home events. At a special Friday prayer for Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary at the National Mosque in Abuja, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas represented the president and read a message of hope.
Government supporters say a working leave is normal and that there is no vacuum in power. Critics say a reelection drive looks odd when the president is not seen at home and when many citizens still struggle with hardship and fear.
Campaign visits to northern scholars continue even as the president’s exact return day has not been restated since the weekend promise. The next presidential vote is due in January 2027.
