“Why Didn’t Tinubu Go To UNGA?” — Sowore Links Absence To Alleged U.S. Arrest Fears

By Passman Akpos

Presidential candidate and political activist, Omoyele Sowore, has launched a scathing attack on the Federal Government over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s continued stay in France and his decision not to personally attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Sowore questioned why what he described as Tinubu’s “mummified showcasing and stunts” in Paris had generated little public scrutiny, arguing that Nigerians and the political class appeared to have accepted the situation without demanding sufficient explanations.

“There is something inherently wrong with Nigeria,” Sowore stated in a social media post on Sunday.

His comments came amid reports that Tinubu would not attend the 81st UN General Assembly, with Vice President Kashim Shettima expected to represent Nigeria at the gathering in New York.

Sowore Alleges Medical Treatment In France

Sowore further alleged that Tinubu was not merely on vacation in France but was receiving medical treatment.

“Tinubu is not on vacation; he is receiving treatment in France,” Sowore alleged, adding that the President would eventually be presented to Nigerians as though “nothing happened.”

The allegation has not been independently established by available public evidence.

The Presidency, meanwhile, has publicly described Tinubu’s overseas stay as a working vacation/private visit. The State House reported that the President held engagements in Paris, including discussions with Bolloré Group executives, and that French President Emmanuel Macron received him for a private dinner on September 18

UNGA Absence Sparks Fresh Debate

Sowore also linked Tinubu’s absence from the UN General Assembly to what he described as fears that the United States government could arrest the Nigerian President over past allegations connected to a U.S. drug investigation.

However, that claim remains an allegation by Sowore and has not been established as the reason for Tinubu’s decision not to attend UNGA.

Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, previously said there was no notification from the U.S. government restricting Tinubu’s movement and argued that representatives attending UN activities enjoy freedom of transit under the 1947 UN-U.S. Headquarters Agreement.

There is also an ongoing U.S. legal battle over access to FBI and DEA records relating to investigations involving Tinubu in the 1990s. Tinubu’s lawyers have challenged the release of some of the records on privacy grounds.

An FBI filing reported in September said Tinubu had been a subject of a U.S. criminal investigation involving the FBI and DEA in the early 1990s. Importantly, the court records do not establish that Tinubu committed criminal wrongdoing, and the FOIA litigation concerns access to government records.

‘Secrecy, Deception And Carefully Managed Appearances’

Sowore compared the situation to previous periods under former Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that Nigerians had previously witnessed what he characterised as secrecy surrounding presidential health issues.

“We have seen this script before with Yar’Adua and Buhari: secrecy, deception, carefully managed appearances, and a country expected to look away,” he alleged.

He accused what he called “sycophants” of playing along with the situation and criticised what he described as a broader societal willingness to accept presidential narratives without sufficient questioning.

Sowore concluded with a call for what he described as Nigeria’s liberation from both political manoeuvring and the mentality that allows such practices to continue.

“Every sycophant is playing along, and society has acquiesced completely,” he stated.

He ended his post with the hashtag #RevolutionNow.

The allegations surrounding Tinubu’s health, the purpose of his stay in France and the reason for his absence from UNGA remain matters of public debate. The officially reported position is that Tinubu’s European trip involves a working vacation and official engagements, while Vice President Shettima is representing Nigeria at the UN General Assembly.