President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a Seyi Tinubu decision to make. He could appoint the younger Tinubu to a cabinet position, or he could keep things as they are and continue to violate the constitution on at least two counts. Either way, Nigerians deserve clarity about the position of the son within the father’s government.
If the president chooses the first option, he will only be giving legal recognition to what effectively exists as a political fact, since his son is already deeply involved in government and national politics. If, on the other hand, the president sticks with the status quo, then we must raise the unprecedented constitutional issues, as I shall argue presently. Whatever the president does on this, the operative terms here are the Nigerian constitution, presidential convention, and the violation of either.
For the first time in Nigeria, we have a presidential son who wants to be fully, openly and directly part of the gig, and a president-father who would let him, or at least who would not issue a firm “No”.
Nigerian leaders from Tafawa Balewa in 1960 to Buhari in 2023 generally refrained from directly involving their children in their own government beyond the symbolic perks of a “First Family”. This practice has grown into a strong tradition and convention, and in any case, many presidential children were young or still in school when their parents served. Of course, quite a few adult children of our past leaders were influential in politics and business particularly, as Abacha and Obasanjo’s children reportedly were. Iyabo Obasanjo was commissioner for health in their home state, Ogun, and was elected a senator when her father was president. Presidential daughters and sons have also often married into prominent political, business or royal families when their parents are in office, as was the case with Yar’adua and Buhari.
None of this, however, is in the same proportion or category as Seyi Tinubu’s role in his father’s government is shaping up to be. Seyi clearly wants to be more than just a president’s son, but to be front and centre of politics and government alongside his parents. He is also not content with the conventional approach of operating and wielding influence in the shadows, as some presidential children before him had done.
He has been a presidential spokesman, lashing out at critics of his father, “the greatest president in Nigerian history”. He has been a goodwill ambassador, helping to build or mend bridges between his father and former heads of state and governors. He has been an envoy of peace, doling out ‘Ramadan baskets’ all across northern Nigeria and donations to victims of flood. He has reportedly influenced his father’s appointment of ministers and presidential advisers. Above all, Seyi wants a seat at the cabinet table to be part of it all at the Federal Executive Council. All of these are cabinet-level roles, which then raise the question; what precisely is Seyi Tinubu’s official role within his father’s presidency?
The answer is so far unclear. What is clear, however, is that clarity is needed. First, no presidential children or family members have assumed such wide-ranging public roles in their father’s government. The most we have seen is Buhari’s appointment of his nephew, Tunde Sabiu Yusuf, as his personal secretary, which, in fact, is a good example precisely because it was made official. Secondly, the current situation of having Seyi Tinubu perform senior-level political and government duties without official recognition raises the issue of accountability. Since no one outside of government can spend government funds, where are the funds for Seyi’s political activities coming from? Are they federal, party, or personal funds? Nigerians must know. After all, Buhari was lampooned for allowing his daughter, Hanan, to use a presidential jet for personal business. Where are the same critics now?
Third, it is clear that Seyi Tinubu has serious political ambitions of his own, and that his father approves and supports those ambitions. The younger Tinubu appears to want to follow in the political footsteps of his father to become the governor of Lagos State, as rumoured, and perhaps thereafter, launch a presidential bid of his own. And the Tinubus, it seems, aim to use this presidency as a training ground for the younger man to gain experience and learn on the job. That is the only logical explanation for this extent of overreach by a son in their father’s government.
This is where the constitutional issues come into play. On the one hand, there is nothing constitutionally wrong with a president appointing his son or daughter to a cabinet position within their government. There is also nothing constitutionally wrong for any president’s sons or daughters to hold political aspirations of their own, and nothing wrong for the parents to support such ambitions. Dynastic political families are common in democracies. Many American presidents appointed one or more of their own children or other family members to various positions, from private secretaries to influential advisers. John F. Kennedy, for example, made his brother, Robert, as the US Attorney General, and was so confirmed by the US Senate.
The key issue is clarity, which comes from official notice, as in Tunde Sabiu’s case. Were Sabiu a son, rather than a nephew, of Buhari (is there any difference in our African context?), it would just have been as well, since everyone knows what his specific roles are in the government. Likewise, Tinubu could appoint Seyi as Presidential Envoy on Domestic Affairs or Minister of Special Duties, or whatever he sees fit, with a clear delineation of responsibilities and powers, like any other cabinet position. That would help to absorb the son’s energies and give a platform for any further political aspirations. Most importantly, such clarity will avoid the president’s infringement on the constitution as is currently the case with his son’s undefined public roles.
As things stand, Nigeria effectively has two presidents and two vice-presidents at the same time. The difference is that Seyi Tinubu is both a co-president to his father, and a co-vice president to Vice President Kashim Shettima. Certainly, the Nigerian constitution did not intend such an arrangement. In order to accommodate his son’s energies and aspirations, the president has had to withdraw from some of his own roles, and at the same time, weaken the office and person of the vice president. In my view, these directly violate the spirit and letter of our constitution.
Nigerians have made funny and not-so-funny jokes on social media about the position of the vice president in relation to Seyi Tinubu’s increasing public roles and visibility in government. Some memes have even described Shettima as the “former vice president of Nigeria”, just to indicate the extent of his perceived or real alienation from the government of which he is a part. A lot of the concerns expressed by such jokes are valid. In my view, however, the real problem lies a degree higher up.
In our presidential system, the president has three roles: as head of the government, as commander of the armed forces, and as the political, symbolic and ceremonial head of state. Seyi Tinubu performs quite a lot of this third role of head of state. He has taken salutes and stood for parades by our police and military officers. He has been the more politically visible of the pair across the country. He has had governors receive him across the states as exactly as they would President Tinubu himself.
All of these are part of the president’s own job, but which he has unofficially delegated to his son against the intent of our constitution. This is why President Tinubu has a decision to make. Give Seyi a seat at the table officially, or let him officially stay out.
•Written By Suleiman A. Suleiman
