Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has questioned the constitutional status of President Bola Tinubu’s continued absence from Nigeria, asking who is currently exercising presidential authority as the 21-day period announced for the President’s annual vacation has elapsed.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 election and Vice-President from 1999 to 2007, made the remarks in a statement on Monday.
He said Nigerians were entitled to clarification on the constitutional arrangements governing Tinubu’s absence, particularly with reference to Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.
“Twenty-one days have come and gone since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu left Nigeria on what the Presidency described as a three-week annual vacation,” Atiku said.
“Today, Nigerians are entitled to ask a very simple constitutional question: Who is in charge of Nigeria?”
According to Atiku, Section 145 requires the President to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives when proceeding on vacation, enabling the Vice-President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
He said Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30, but Nigerians had not been shown any written declaration transferring presidential authority to Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
“President Tinubu left Nigeria on 30 August. The Presidency publicly announced a three-week vacation. Yet, to date, Nigerians have not been shown any constitutional letter transmitting presidential authority to Vice President Kashim Shettima,” he said.
“The 21 days have now elapsed. If such a letter exists, the Presidency should publish it immediately.”
Atiku further argued that if no declaration had been transmitted within the period prescribed by the Constitution, the National Assembly should explain why the procedure under Section 145(2) had not been activated.
“If it does not, then the constitutional mechanism contemplated by Section 145(2) has been triggered, and the National Assembly owes Nigerians an explanation as to why it has not acted,” he said.
“This is not a matter of political convenience. It is a matter of constitutional order.”
He also pointed to Shettima’s presence in New York, where he is representing Tinubu at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
“The situation is made even more disturbing by the fact that Vice President Shettima is himself presently in New York representing Nigeria at the United Nations General Assembly,” Atiku said.
He added that this was the third consecutive UN General Assembly at which Tinubu had delegated Nigeria’s representation to his deputy.
“So again: who is exercising presidential authority in Nigeria today, and under what constitutional instrument?” Atiku asked.
The former Vice-President said Nigeria could not be governed through assumptions or informal indications of presidential activity while Tinubu remained abroad.
“Nigeria cannot be governed by assumptions. It cannot be governed by presidential social-media posts from Europe.
“It cannot be governed by photographs from private dinners at the Élysée Palace.
“It cannot be governed on autopilot,” he said.
Atiku also referenced the reported deaths of 37 Nigerians in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State, as well as rising petrol prices and broader economic pressures facing citizens.
“These are not ordinary times. Yet the President is abroad. The Vice President is abroad. The Senate President is abroad.
“And Nigerians have not been told, in the clear constitutional language required of a serious democracy, who is exercising the powers of the President,” he said.
He also referred to Tinubu’s private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, saying the President’s diplomatic engagements should not obscure the need for clarity over the exercise of presidential powers.
“President Tinubu’s private dinner with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris may serve diplomatic purposes. But Nigeria itself cannot be placed on vacation,” Atiku said.
“The Constitution does not recognise a ‘working vacation’ as an alternative system of presidential succession.
“It provides a procedure. That procedure must be obeyed.”
Atiku therefore called on the Presidency to disclose whether Tinubu transmitted the declaration contemplated under Section 145(1) before leaving Nigeria.
He also urged the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to state whether they received such a communication.
“And if no declaration was transmitted within the constitutionally stipulated period, the National Assembly must explain why the procedure provided by Section 145(2) has not been activated,” he said.
Atiku said Nigerians deserved clear and constitutionally grounded leadership amid economic hardship, rising energy costs, security challenges and the deaths of citizens in government custody.
“Nigeria is bigger than any President. At a time of severe economic hardship, rising energy costs, security challenges and the shocking deaths of citizens in government custody, the country deserves visible, accountable and constitutionally grounded leadership.
“The question will not disappear: Who, constitutionally, is in charge of Nigeria?” he said.
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