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Buhari’s ‘Private London Visit’ without Transmitting Power Act of Dereliction, Says PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for travelling to the UK on a ‘private visit’ without transmitting power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The reason for the president’s trip was not disclosed by the presidency which simply said it was a ‘private visit’ and Mr Buhari would returrn on May 5.
Many observers, however, believe the president travelled to see his doctors in the UK where he has received treatment for about one year of his four years in office.
Unlike during such previous trips, Mr Buhari did not transmit power to Mr Osinbajo as required by Section 145 of the Constitution.
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s private voyage out of the country without transmitting power, as required by the constitution, is an act of dereliction, which confirms that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Buhari Presidency are not interested in governance but seeks to vacate our constitutional order and foist an authoritarian system on our country,” the PDP said in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan.
The opposition party said such trip at a time Nigeria was witnessing major cases of insecurity was not a good one.
“Mr. President’s abandoning of governance, particularly at this critical time when our nation is facing grave security and economic challenges, signposts the level of impunity and recklessness that will characterize our nation in the next four years, if the stolen Presidential mandate is not retrieved from the APC.”
Attacks by bandits, kidnappers, Boko Haram, as well as ethnic and religious crises across the country have created a state of insecurity across Nigeria.
The latest occured on Monday when motorists were attacked by armed bandits along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. Many travellers are belived to have been kidnapped.
The victims include the chairman of the board of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Muhammad Mahmood, and his daughter. Mr Mahmood’s driver was killed in the attack.
In its Monday statement, the PDP alleged that Mr Buhari’s decision not to transmit power to Mr Osinbajo had created a vacuum that would be filled by a ‘cabal’ in the presidency.
“The import of this relegation of Section 145 is also a clear absence of a constitutional command structure which leaves our nation at the mercy of the extremely corrupt, vicious and anti-people cabal with whom President Buhari presided over the most corrupt and most incompetent administration, which wrecked our economy, divided our nation and opened her up for escalated insecurity,” it said.
While the PDP criticised Mr Buhari for not transmitting power, it was silent on the fact that Mr Buhari’s civilian predecessors, who were PDP members, also travelled out of the country often without transmitting power to their vice presidents.
Ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and late Umar Yar’Adua at different times travelled outside the country without transmitting power to their vice presidents.
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Nigerian sprint star, Favour Ofili, made history on Saturday by breaking the world record in the women’s 150 metres at the 2025 Adidas Atlanta City Games, clocking an astonishing 15.85 seconds (2.0m/s) at Piedmont Park.
At just 22 years old, Ofili became the first woman to ever run the 150m in under 16 seconds, smashing the previous record of 16.23 seconds set by Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas in 2018.
Her performance headlined a strong Nigerian showing at the prestigious street meet, which brought together elite global athletes in a vibrant, open-air setting designed to engage fans up close.
Reacting to her historic moment, she wrote on X: “For the lord is Good.”
Also shining on the day was world record holder and 100m hurdles champion Tobi Amusan, who finished second in her heat with a time of 12.53 seconds behind American Keni Harrison (12.44s), securing a place in the final. Amusan’s run continues her steady build-up for the upcoming championship season, having already posted 12.74s and 12.66s in previous meets in Xiamen and Keqiao.
Meanwhile, Nigerian sprinter Udodi Onwuzurike clocked a season’s best of 10.20 seconds in his 100m heat, finishing second to South Africa’s Akani Simbine (10.13s). The performance was enough to book Onwuzurike a spot in the final, signalling a strong resurgence in his 2025 campaign.
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was diagnosed on Friday with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
The diagnosis came after Mr. Biden reported urinary symptoms, which led doctors to find a “small nodule” on his prostate. Mr. Biden’s cancer is “characterized by a Gleason score of 9” with “metastasis to the bone,” the statement said.
The Gleason score is used to describe how prostate cancers look under a microscope; 9 and 10 are the most aggressive. The cancer is Stage 4, which means it has spread.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” according to the statement from Mr. Biden’s office, which was unsigned. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
Mr. Biden, 82, left office in January as the oldest-serving president in American history. Throughout his presidency, Mr. Biden faced questions about his age and his health, ultimately leading him to abandon his re-election campaign under pressure from his own party.
Prostate cancer experts say that Mr. Biden’s diagnosis is serious, and that once the cancer has spread to the bones — where it tends to go — it cannot be cured. But Dr. Judd Moul, a prostate cancer expert at Duke University, said men whose prostate cancer has spread “can live five, seven, 10 or more years.”
The first line of attack is to cut off the testosterone that feeds prostate cancer. Dr. Moul said that when he started out as a urologist in the 1980s, this was done by removing a man’s testicles. Today, men have a choice of two drugs given by injection that block the testicles from making testosterone or a pill that does the same thing. In addition, men take drugs that block any testosterone that manages to be made despite the drugs that inhibit its production.
Dr. Moul said he sees men Mr. Biden’s age with similar prostate cancer diagnoses on a regular basis. “Survival rates have almost tripled in the last decade,” he said.
On Monday, Mr. Biden posted a picture on social media with his wife, Jill Biden, along with a statement saying: “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday met with Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City in Rome, Italy.
Their meeting has sparked a possible significant moment in diplomatic and interfaith relations between Nigeria and the Holy See.
Tinubu had arrived the Vatican City on Saturday following an invitation from the Pope.
He was in Rome to witness the official installation of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican City in Rome.
The president is also expected to join other world leaders and dignitaries at a solemn mass marking the beginning of the pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and the newly elected leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Upon his arrival, His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State to the Vatican had hosted Tinubu to a dinner.
Pope Leo XIV was elected by a college of Cardinals following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday.
