BREAKING: Jonathan Said Is There Any Way We Can Cut Our Umrah,Lesser Hajj Short Because He Has To Travel — Sani

According to a report by Channels TV, on Friday April 17, 2026, The importance of the constitutional protocol regarding the simultaneous presence of Nigeria’s top two leaders was recently highlighted by Umar Sani, the former Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to former Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Sani emphasized that, for security and administrative continuity, it is standard practice and a necessary requirement that the President and Vice President do not vacate the country at the same time.

To illustrate how seriously this protocol is observed, Sani shared an anecdote from his time serving under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Sani recalled a period when he and then-Vice President Sambo were in Saudi Arabia performing the Umrah (lesser hajj). During their trip, an urgent need arose for then-President Goodluck Jonathan to travel abroad on official business.

Due to the requirement that one of the two must remain in the country to exercise executive authority, President Jonathan reached out to his deputy to coordinate their schedules.

According to Sani, the President’s request for the Vice President to return early was immediate. Sani recounted the exchange, relaying the former Vice President’s recollection of the moment:

“There was a time we were in Saudi Arabia and there was an urgency, the president wanted to travel. I and the vice president were conducting Umrah, lesser hajj, and the president called him and said when is he coming back? He said, ‘We are supposed to come back in the next 6 days’. Jonathan said is there any way we can cut it short because he has to travel. Of course, there was a way we could cut it, we just decided that after the Umrah we would just rest, but we had to return back.”

The account serves as a reminder of the logistical constraints placed upon the presidency.

By cutting their religious pilgrimage short, the Vice President ensured that the executive branch remained staffed and operational within Nigerian borders, allowing the President to fulfill his own international obligations without creating a constitutional vacuum.