Tongues wagging when the Presidency does not publish Tinubu’s photographs after his trip abroad

May 9, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

In a rare and unusual circumstance, the presidency did not release any photographs of President Bola Tinubu’s return trip to Nigeria after two weeks abroad.

Since Tinubu took over the country a year ago, his aides and presidential officials have consistently posted photos and videos of his arrival and departure from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Nigerian capital.

At those moments, senior government officials such as the president’s Chief of Staff, Secretary of the Government of the Federation, Ministers, Governors, among others, say goodbye and welcome the president.

However, Tinubu’s return on Wednesday was announced in a news report by the NTA.

“President Bola Tinubu returns to Abuja after his trips to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia,” the government media outlet posted on social media, without a single image or video, sparking reactions.

Like the NTA, none of the accounts of presidential aides or supporters posted multimedia content about Tinubu’s return trip.

Although APC UK posted a video on its X handle while welcoming Tinubu to the country, checks by Daily Trust showed that it is an old video.

Daily Trust can confirm that the video is from February 6, 2024, when the president was returning to the country after a private visit to France.

Meanwhile, Tinubu’s return without videos or images has made Nigerians move in X.

Commenting on the issue, an X user who tweeted via @SnipesLyon wrote: “Show videos.”

@WAghwarito98347 wrote: “No videos, just news… oh our president is never coming back… make his speech like before, na abi, is there more?”

@MaziEzike_Nedu: “Return trip in audio. Show us the president. His office usually welcomes him 🗄 ”

@mr_richjoel: “We don’t want these photos… We need videos of him getting off the plane and the governor welcoming him.”

@alakowee: “If you like it, have them show us the video. Tinubu who likes to show off. You will come back and your video will not be on Twitter NG. Have they ever complained?

@agent_freedom: “Where is the video that returns?”

@prolific4ØØ: “show us the video or photos.”

@Ansersonjean: “Oga, release the video 📹 this one is for audio playback.”

Unknown destination after official trips

The president had left Abuja on April 23 for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, on an official visit.

His special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said in a statement that the visit was at the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

From the Netherlands, he had attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

However, once the event was over, the president’s next destination was shrouded in secrecy, fueling speculation that he had taken a medical trip to France.

Two credible sources had independently told Daily Trust that the president headed to London from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

One of our two sources, a senior presidential official, told one of our reporters that the president “is currently in London on a private visit.”

The official, who asked not to be named, declined to comment further on the reason for the president’s visit to London.

The president’s special advisor on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, later confirmed that Tinubu was heading to Europe from Saudi Arabia, although he was not specific about the European country.

In a post on his username X on Tuesday, Onanuga announced that the president would return to Nigeria on Wednesday.

He wrote: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, together with his aides, will return to Nigeria from Europe tomorrow.”

Shettima’s aborted journey

While the dust had yet to settle on the whereabouts of Nigeria’s number one citizen, Vice President Kashim Shettima’s office announced that the nation’s number two man was heading to a summit in the United States.

This had sparked a backlash as Nigerians wondered how those responsible could leave the country in the midst of storms, particularly fuel shortages across the country.

But just as the debate was in full swing, especially on social media, Shettima’s media team announced that the trip to the United States had been aborted so that the vice president could fulfill his “national duties.”

However, the cancellation was attributed to a technical failure, something unusual for aircraft in the presidential fleet.

Several attempts to reach Onanuga for clarification regarding the president’s return trip failed as calls were not returned.