Femi Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has stated that President Bola Tinubu ridiculed the nation by travelling to France.

Recall that President Tinubu travelled to France on a private visit last week Wednesday and is expected to return to the country in the first week of February 2024.

Speaking during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday, Falana slammed Tinubu for exposing Nigeria to ridicule by travelling to France, where his presence is not officially recognized.

The senior lawyer stated that as the country with the largest concentration of black people in the world, Nigeria ought to carry herself with some 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 narrated how the late Afrobeat musical legend, Fela Anikulakpo Kuti, used to be invited to the Presidential Palace in France by President Francois Mitterand for recognition during the musician’s private visits to the country.

The senior lawyer, however, wondered how, years later, a Nigerian president would travel to the same country on a “private visit” and get no official recognition.

The foremost lawyer further berated the trip embarked on by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to Grenada to attend a birthday party of a socialite.

Falana said Sanwo-Olu’s visit to the prime minister of the nation of 130,000 people was just an afterthought designed to make the trip look 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.”