The absence of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA’s) 62nd annual general conference at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, has generated reactions from social media users.

The former governor of Lagos State, who was invited to speak at the event alongside other presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, was noticeably absent at the event, while Mr Atiku and Mr Obi showed up for the event.

Mr Tinubu was instead represented at the event by his running mate, and former governor of Borno state, Sen. Kashim Shettima.

However, the failure of the presidential hopeful to show up at the event does not seem to have gone down well with some social media users, who took to Twitter to call out the APC presidential candidate over his absence at the event.

Reacting to his absence, Reno Omokri, a former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, wondered why Tinubu missed the event despite the fact that the event is hosted in Lagos State where Tinubu resides.

“If Atiku and Peter Obi can fly to Lagos to speak at the Nigerian Bar Association Conference, what excuse can Bola Tinubu have if he does not show face there? It is happening in Lagos. He lives in Lagos. Lagos is his base. Something is wrong if he does not attend!” he tweeted.

He continued that “From Tinubu’s absence at the NBA Annual General Conference holding 5.7 kilometres from his home at Bourdillon, one thing is clear, Tinubu will avoid any gathering where Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi are present. Meaning he may not attend the Presidential debates!”

Another user @Ahfo_ tweeted “From Bourdillon to Eko hotel is 18 minutes by car, but Tinubu chose to send Shettima from Borno to attend the NBA conference.”

@I_Am_Ilemona “Pay attention to Tinubu’s refusal to attend the NBA conference today. It would have been the first public comparison of the top contenders for next year’s election. And his camp knew that it would expose how badly he compares to the others. So they sent his running mate.”

Another Twitter user @Sadiyahamza41 described Tinubu as a ‘placeholder’ for Senator Kashim Shettima “Those asking for the presidential candidate of APC should know that Tinubu is just a placeholder. The real candidate is Shettima and he was there live at the NBA conference,” she tweeted.

“NBA invited Tinubu to speak at their annual conference, and Tinubu sent Kashmir Shettima. Why are they hiding Tinubu like Covid 19 palliative?” @von_Bismack asked rhetorically.

The theme for this year’s NBA annual general conference is tagged “Bold Transitions.”

(Nigerian Tribune)

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