PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu’s decision to stay away from the United Nations General Assembly for the third consecutive year could limit Nigeria’s opportunity for direct presidential-level diplomacy, according to former Foreign Service officer and Diplomat Iliyasu Gadu.
The ICIR reports that Tinubu again delegated Vice-President Kashim Shettima to represent him at the 81st session of the UNGA in New York, making it the third consecutive year that the president will not attend the annual gathering of world leaders.
Shettima is expected to deliver Nigeria’s national statement and participate in high-level meetings and bilateral engagements with foreign leaders, international organisations and development partners.
But Gadu, who served at Nigeria’s diplomatic missions in Germany and the United Kingdom, said the president’s absence creates a difference that cannot simply be addressed by sending another senior official.
He said the importance of presidential attendance becomes particularly clear when discussions at the gathering involve issues requiring decisions at the highest level.
“Where it concerns decisions, concrete decisions to be taken, to be signed off, you need your president there,” Gadu told The ICIR.
The UNGA is one of the few international gatherings that brings together a large number of heads of state and government in the same place within a short period.
The United Nations says its General Assembly is the organisation’s main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ, with all 193 member states represented. Nearly 130 heads of state and government are expected to attend the 2026 High-Level Week in person.
The gathering also provides opportunities for leaders to hold bilateral meetings outside the formal General Debate.
For Nigeria, Gadu said, those meetings matter because the country has a wide range of diplomatic and economic interests requiring direct engagement with other governments.
He identified security, Nigeria’s relations with other African countries and bilateral relations beyond the continent as areas where presidential-level discussions could be important.
According to Gadu, a president attending the UNGA is not merely there to deliver a speech.
The gathering, he noted, allows the Nigerian leader to meet several heads of government, raise issues directly with them and potentially negotiate matters requiring political decisions.
“The heads of government are there; they meet each other and discuss issues of bilateral relationships,” he said.
Oil, OPEC and the Middle East
Gadu also linked presidential participation to Nigeria’s position as an oil-producing country and member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
He said developments in the Middle East could have implications for Nigeria’s economic and diplomatic interests, making direct engagement with leaders from the region important.
He noted that the issue is particularly relevant because the UNGA is taking place amid wider geopolitical tensions and discussions on global security, development and international cooperation.
Gadu said Nigeria therefore needs to engage directly with countries whose decisions can affect its economic and strategic interests.
He argued that presidential diplomacy provides an opportunity to make such engagements directly rather than relying entirely on officials acting on the president’s behalf.
“In that region, there is a war ongoing now between the Americans and Iran, American Israelis and Iran. And as we speak, the Houthis are bearing down on the neck of the Saudis. There is a huge war going on there. There are lots of issues going on there. There is a possibility that the war might morph into something greater than we thought it was going to be.
“So, as an oil-producing country, as an OPEC member, as a country that has quite extensive relations with Saudi Arabia and even Iran, the president ought to go in there. The president should go in there and present his case, present our case, the case of Nigeria and Africa, to the world,” he said
On economic opportunities, Gadu explained that the wider value of the gathering lies in the opportunity for the president to personally engage other leaders.
He said the UNGA gives a Nigerian president the unusual opportunity to meet several world leaders in one location and discuss issues affecting Nigeria.
Such engagements, he noted, could cover security, economic relations, investment and bilateral cooperation.
Tinubu’s three-year absence
The ICIR reports that Tinubu attended the 78th UNGA in September 2023, shortly after assuming office.
He did not attend the 79th UNGA in 2024. Shettima represented him at the 80th UNGA in 2025 and delivered Nigeria’s national statement.
Shettima is again representing him at the 81st session in 2026.
The repeated absence has prompted questions, including from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who asked the Presidency to explain why Tinubu has skipped the gathering three years in a row.
Atiku also questioned whether the president’s previous legal history in the United States had any bearing on his decision not to attend.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M