Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, has returned to Abuja after representing President Bola Tinubu at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Luanda, Angola.
Naija News reports that Shettima’s returned on Monday after he participated in the high-level continental meeting, where Nigeria pushed for stronger African solutions to conflicts and other security challenges affecting the continent.
At the AU summit, the Nigerian delegation advocated greater reliance on African-led initiatives to prevent and resolve conflicts across the continent.
Nigeria also drew attention to recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks targeting Africans and other nationals in South Africa, calling for urgent continental action to address the situation.
The country further expressed support for the Luanda Action Plan and urged AU member states to take greater collective responsibility for maintaining peace and security.
Nigeria also called for sustainable funding of the continent’s peace and security architecture and greater African ownership of mechanisms designed to resolve conflicts within Africa.
After concluding his official engagements, Shettima departed Angola and subsequently arrived in Abuja.
Shettima’s return came shortly after the National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed raised concerns over the simultaneous absence of Tinubu and the Vice-President while speaking at the G100 Summit of opposition political parties in Abuja.
The PRP chairman criticised the President’s absence, alleging that Tinubu’s overseas trip was connected to controversies surrounding allegations against him.
Baba-Ahmed said, “We have a president who is out of the country, trying to cover up from Nigerians knowing the truth about what may have happened some years back when he was in America regarding drugs.
“His deputy is in Angola. For the first time, perhaps, in the history of this country, you have a president who is outside the country and a vice-president who is outside the country.”
The opposition leader then asked who was overseeing the country’s affairs in their absence, “Who is in charge of the country now?”
