NEWS
“Your presence in France is not recognised” – Falana mocks Tinubu
Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights lawyer, claims that President Bola Tinubu mocked the country by visiting France.
TopNaija recalls that President Tinubu traveled to France on a private visit last Wednesday and is anticipated to return in the first week of February 2024.
On Sunday, Falana lambasted Tinubu for exposing Nigeria to ridicule by traveling to France, where his presence is not legally acknowledged.
The prominent jurist argued that Nigeria, as the nation with the highest concentration of black people in the world, should handle itself with dignity.
He said: “I hope this will be the last time that a president of Nigeria will expose the country to embarrassment and ridicule by going to a country where his presence is not recognized.”
According to Falana, the Nigerian constitution does not make provision for a private visit by the president, stating that he can’t go on a private visit and still be running the country.
He said: “There is no provision in the constitution for a private visit by the Nigerian president. Therefore, he cannot go on a private visit and still be running the country.
“So to the extent that the activities of the state are still being conducted by him, the question of a private visit does not arise.”
Falana described how the late Afrobeat musical artist Fela Anikulakpo Kuti was called to the Presidential Palace in France by President Francois Mitterand for acknowledgment during the musician’s private trips to the nation.
However, the senior lawyer questioned how, years later, a Nigerian president could go to the same nation on a “private visit” and get no official recognition.
The top lawyer also criticized Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for traveling to Grenada to attend a socialite’s birthday celebration.
Falana said Sanwo-Olu’s visit to the prime minister of the country of 130,000 people was an afterthought intended to make the trip seem official.
He said: “The governor of a state in a federation does not conduct foreign affairs.
“He knows he cannot tell Lagosians that he went on a private visit to attend a birthday party. That is why he had to quickly call on the PM to make it look official.”
