At Chatham House, Tinubu asks Gbaja, Sanwo-Olu, other surrogates to take questions on how to govern Nigeria

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu, at his Chatham House engagement in London, refused to answer critical questions on how he intends to govern Nigeria if elected in 2023.

Rather than answer questions bordering on the economy, health and Nigeria’s multidimensional security challenges, Mr Tinubu instead assigned them to his surrogates. 

Mr Tinubu assigned the question on oil theft to one of his campaign spokespersons, Dele Alake; the question on security he assigned to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna; and the question on youth development and inclusion to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River. 

Also, a former commissioner of finance in Lagos, Wale Edun, was asked to answer the question on job creation; current House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila answered question on defence, and incumbent Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, took the question on youth inclusion in politics and governance.

The APC presidential candidate excused his failure to answer questions as a demonstration of his “philosophies and doctrines that I believe in. It’s teamship. Unbreakable team,” adding that “To demonstrate that, I will choose the first question, assigned to Dele Alake, the second question assigned to Nasir Elrufai, and the third question assign to Ben Ayade.”

While Mr Tinubu claimed to boycott the questions to demonstrate his belief in “teamship,” his repeated incoherence and loss of awareness at public functions suggest a different perspective to his unexpected abstinence from questions. 

Mr Tinubu’s aides have shielded him from public debates and live press briefings in an effort to limit the gaffes that come with his participation at public gatherings showing his weak condition, which several commentators have denounced as unpresidential.