Akpabio Speaks on Assuming Power As Acting President Following Tinubu’s Absence
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has rejected claims that he is serving as Nigeria’s Acting President while President Bola Tinubu remains abroad and Vice-President Kashim Shettima is in the United States.
Speaking on Tuesday in Akwa Ibom State, Akpabio said Tinubu had not relinquished presidential authority and that no vacancy existed in the office of the President.
“I am the Senate President and not the acting President of Nigeria because President Tinubu is still in power. He’s on a working leave, and there’s no absence in Aso Rock,” he said.
Tinubu departed Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a three-week working vacation.
His stay was later extended by several days, with officials saying he was expected to return at the weekend.
The Presidency has maintained that Tinubu remains in communication with government officials and continues to direct the affairs of the country from abroad. The President is currently in France, while Shettima travelled to New York on September 20 to represent Nigeria at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The absence of both men has prompted renewed debate over the constitutional process for transferring presidential responsibilities. Opposition politicians and political parties have urged the National Assembly to clarify whether the requirements of Section 145 of the Constitution have been met.
Akpabio dismissed the suggestion that the situation had produced a constitutional vacuum. He said the National Assembly could declare a vacancy only in circumstances recognised by law and insisted that Tinubu remained in office.
According to him, he is the “only person who can declare a vacancy and there will be a vacancy.”
“Right now, there is no vacancy. Asiwaju Tinubu is still in power, and he’s still running the affairs of Nigeria.
“The world is a global village, you can give instructions from the internet. So why are people complaining?” he said.
Sowore said the end of the President’s initial 21-day period required the National Assembly to determine whether Section 145 had been properly applied. He also challenged Akpabio and House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to state whether Tinubu had transmitted the required declaration.
“This is no longer about Tinubu’s vacation. It is about whether Nigeria will be governed according to its Constitution.
“The 21 days have expired. The National Assembly must act now,” Sowore said.
Section 145(1) states that when the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform the functions of office, he should transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives authorising the Vice-President to act as President.
Under Section 145(2), if the President fails or is unable to transmit the declaration within 21 days, the National Assembly may, by a simple majority in both chambers, require the Vice-President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
The ADC also raised concerns about the continued absence of both Tinubu and Shettima. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume could not acquire presidential powers merely by representing Tinubu at official events.
The Presidency had stated that Akume would continue to represent the President at selected engagements while Tinubu and Shettima remained outside the country.
“Representation is not governance. Attendance at official functions is not presidential authority,” the ADC said.
The party further argued that “working vacation” was not a term recognised by Section 145 and said the key question was whether the constitutional procedure for presidential absence had been followed.
It asked the Presidency and the National Assembly to identify the person exercising presidential powers and specify the legal basis for that authority.
