By Ado Ibrahim, Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has questioned who is constitutionally exercising presidential powers in Nigeria following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reported 21-day annual vacation abroad.
Atiku, in a statement, raised concerns over the President’s absence from the country, urging the Presidency to clarify whether the constitutional procedures for transferring presidential authority to Vice President Kashim Shettima had been followed.
President Tinubu reportedly left Nigeria on August 30 for a three-week vacation. However, Atiku said Nigerians had not been shown any written declaration formally transmitting presidential authority to Shettima, as required under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.
Section 145(1) provides that whenever the President proceeds on vacation, he is required to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, allowing the Vice President to perform the functions of President in an acting capacity.
Atiku further cited Section 145(2), which provides that where the President fails to transmit the required declaration within 21 days, the National Assembly may, by a simple majority of both chambers, mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
According to him, the 21-day period had elapsed, yet the Presidency had not publicly disclosed any such constitutional communication.
“If such a letter exists, the Presidency should publish it immediately,” Atiku stated.
He also urged the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to clarify whether they had received any formal communication from the President regarding his absence.
Atiku raised further concerns over the fact that Vice President Kashim Shettima was also outside the country, representing Nigeria at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He questioned who was exercising presidential authority in Nigeria and under what constitutional instrument, insisting that the country could not be governed on the basis of assumptions.
The former Vice President linked his concerns to pressing national challenges, including the reported deaths of 37 Nigerians in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna and the rising cost of petrol, which he said had worsened the economic hardship confronting citizens.
Atiku maintained that the country required visible, accountable and constitutionally grounded leadership, particularly at a time of economic hardship and security concerns.
He acknowledged that President Tinubu’s diplomatic engagements abroad, including his reported private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, might serve official purposes, but insisted that Nigeria itself could not be placed on vacation.
“The Constitution does not recognise a ‘working vacation’ as an alternative system of presidential succession. It provides a procedure. That procedure must be obeyed,” he said.
Atiku called on the Presidency and the leadership of the National Assembly to provide immediate clarification on the constitutional arrangements governing the exercise of presidential powers during Tinubu’s absence.
He stressed that the Constitution must be respected and that Nigerians deserved to know who was constitutionally exercising the powers of the President.
“Who, constitutionally, is in charge of Nigeria?” Atiku asked.
