Twenty-one days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu left Nigeria for what the Presidency described as a three-week working vacation, a new question has entered the political conversation: who, constitutionally, is exercising the powers of the President?<\/p>\n
Tinubu departed Nigeria on August 30 for London before proceeding to Paris, where he held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and businessman Vincent Bollor\u00e9, whose business interests include Canal+, MultiChoice and Universal Music Group.<\/p>\n
But according to the Presidency, the President\u2019s physical absence from Nigeria has not meant an absence from government.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Monday, September 21, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said Tinubu had remained in close contact with developments at home and continued to direct the affairs of government while away.<\/p>\n
Among the matters the President has addressed, Onanuga said, was the death of 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State. Tinubu ordered an independent panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths, according to the Presidency.<\/p>\n
The administration also pointed to the continued delegation of official duties during the President\u2019s absence. Vice President Kashim Shettima represented Tinubu at several engagements before departing Abuja on September 20 for New York, where he is representing Nigeria and the President at the 81st United Nations General Assembly and is expected to deliver Nigeria\u2019s national statement.<\/p>\n
With Shettima at the United Nations, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume is expected to continue representing the President at relevant official functions.<\/p>\n
The Presidency has also sought to push back against criticism of Tinubu\u2019s absence from the UN gathering, dismissing as irresponsible what it described as insinuations by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a United States-based lobbying firm over the President\u2019s non-attendance.<\/p>\n
But Atiku has is looking at the issue more from a constitutional perspective rather than diplomatic one.<\/p>\n
In a statement titled \u201cWho is in Charge of Nigeria?\u201d, he argued that Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution establishes a specific procedure for a president who proceeds on vacation. According to Atiku, the President is required to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after which the Vice President performs the functions of President as Acting President.<\/p>\n
Atiku further argued that if such a declaration is not transmitted within 21 days, Section 145(2) provides for the National Assembly to mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.<\/p>\n
The former vice president said Nigerians had not been shown any such constitutional letter concerning Tinubu\u2019s current absence and called on the Presidency to publish it if it exists. He also urged the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives to clarify whether such a communication had been received.<\/p>\n
The constitutional question is therefore not simply whether Tinubu has continued to work from abroad. It is whether the formal requirements governing the transfer of presidential functions during an extended absence have been fulfilled.<\/p>\n
That distinction has become more conspicuous with Shettima himself now outside Nigeria.<\/p>\n
While the Vice President is representing Nigeria at the United Nations, the Presidency maintains that Tinubu continues to discharge his responsibilities from abroad, with other senior officials representing him at engagements inside and outside the country.<\/p>\n
Atiku, however, argues that presidential authority cannot rest merely on informal arrangements or evidence that the President remains engaged with government business.<\/p>\n
The dispute comes against the backdrop of several domestic pressures. The deaths of the 37 suspected illegal miners in NSCDC custody have raised questions about accountability and prompted demands for independent scrutiny. Atiku also pointed to high petrol prices and the cost-of-living pressures confronting Nigerians.<\/p>\n
On the political front, the Presidency said Senator Abubakar Yari, Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, has continued consultations with traditional rulers and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress.<\/p>\n
For the administration, the picture is therefore one of a President temporarily abroad but still actively governing, supported by a chain of senior officials handling his engagements.<\/p>\n
For Atiku, the central issue is different: whether that arrangement is grounded in the precise constitutional procedure governing presidential vacations and temporary transfers of presidential functions.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the disagreement is Section 145 \u2014 and whether the required constitutional declaration was made, received and, if necessary, followed by the action prescribed for the National Assembly.<\/p>\n
The Presidency\u2019s position is that Tinubu remains engaged in the running of government and that Shettima is properly representing him at the United Nations. Atiku is demanding documentary clarity over the constitutional status of that arrangement.<\/p>\n
As Tinubu\u2019s absence stretches beyond the three-week period publicly announced by the Presidency, the question has consequently shifted from where the President is to how presidential authority is formally being exercised.<\/p>\n
For Nigerians watching events from home, the issue now rests on a document whose existence, receipt and constitutional effect have become the focus of a growing political dispute: Was a declaration transmitted under Section 145, and, if so, what does it provide?<\/p>\n
Until that question is answered publicly, the debate over who is exercising presidential functions will continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Twenty-one days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu left Nigeria for what the Presidency described as a three-week working vacation, a new question has entered the political conversation: who, constitutionally, is exercising the powers of the President? Tinubu departed Nigeria on August 30 for London before proceeding to Paris, where he held meetings with French President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[55,3507,370,56],"class_list":["post-100336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-atiku","tag-macron","tag-national-assembly","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100337,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100336\/revisions\/100337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}