The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has sharply criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what it described as his “unexplained disappearance” following the 2025 BRICS Summit in Brazil, calling the President’s extended absence from the country “a disgraceful show of contempt for Nigerians.
“In a statement released by Bolaji Abdullahi, Interim National Publicity Secretary of the ADC and spokesman of the opposition coalition on Sunday, the party questioned why the President only returned to Abuja in the early hours of Sunday, July 13, five days after the summit officially ended on Monday, July 7.
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“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) extends a weary welcome to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for finally returning to the country five days after the end of the 2025 BRICS Summit which held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,” Abdullahi stated.
“Since the summit ended… all the other world leaders who were in attendance returned home, briefed their citizens, and got back to work. But our President? He only reappeared… without a word, without a briefing, or any explanation as to why his return to the country had been delayed.”
The ADC emphasized that five days of unexplained absence is not a trivial matter in a country currently grappling with mounting economic hardship, widespread insecurity, and an increasing sense of public despair.
“A whole five days is significant in the life of a country, especially a country like ours battling with several existential challenges… We therefore cannot wish those five days away and we demand a clear explanation for them,” Abdullahi asserted.
The ADC also took issue with what it described as a recurrent pattern of opacity and disregard for transparency in the President’s international travels.
The party recalled previous instances where the President allegedly “disappeared” from public view after international trips, leaving a vacuum that fueled speculation and national unease.
“In January 2024, a so-called ‘private visit’ to France turned into a two-week disappearance. No photos, and no statements from our President,” Abdullahi recounted. “In April 2024, President Tinubu travelled to the Netherlands, and then to Riyadh… but there was not a word from him until May 8th, 2024. Those were nine days of unexplained vacuum.”
The statement also pointed to another incident in September 2024, where President Tinubu reportedly went missing for six days between engagements in China and an unannounced stopover in London.
“And in the same August 2024, the President also embarked on yet another ‘brief work stay’ in Paris. He remained incommunicado for three days, then quietly returned, as if the nation does not deserve to know,” the statement added.
The opposition party warned that such persistent lack of communication creates dangerous speculation and undermines Nigeria’s image internationally.
“Each episode of Mr. President’s mysterious disappearances has sparked all manners of speculations and rumours that are not only unhealthy to the polity, but also endangers Nigeria’s perception in the eyes of the world,” Abdullahi said.
Calling on citizens to remain alert and demand transparency from their leaders, the ADC said that Nigeria deserves a president who is “present, accountable, and transparent.”
“A president that disappears without explanation cannot be trusted to be present to solve the crises that we face. A president that vanishes without accountability has no moral authority to demand sacrifice from citizens,” the party’s spokesman warned.
The ADC further accused the ruling party of enabling the President’s conduct by failing to hold him accountable, saying, “A ruling party that makes excuses for these serial disappearances has nothing but contempt for the people it governs and has no regard for accountability.”
As concerns mount over the President’s commitment to transparent governance, the ADC’s statement is likely to intensify public debate about the frequency and secrecy of President Tinubu’s international travels—and the apparent void in leadership during his unexplained absences.
So far, there has been no official response from the Presidency regarding the latest allegations.
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