Inibehe Effiong cites Section 145, says National Assembly should act over simultaneous absence of President and Vice President
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has raised constitutional concerns over the simultaneous absence of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima from Nigeria.
Effiong made the assertion on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, September 22, while discussing the constitutional implications of President Tinubu’s extended stay abroad and Shettima’s trip to the United States for the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
President Tinubu has been outside Nigeria since August 30, when he travelled to London for a working vacation. The Presidency announced on Monday that he had extended his stay by a few days and would return to Nigeria at the weekend.
Shettima, meanwhile, left Abuja on September 20 to represent President Tinubu and lead Nigeria’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York. He is expected to deliver Nigeria’s national statement and participate in other high-level engagements during the gathering.
Effiong argued that Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution provides a procedure for transferring presidential functions when the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office.
The Constitution states that the President is 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. It further provides that if the President fails to transmit the declaration within 21 days, the National Assembly may, by a simple majority in each chamber, mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of Acting President.
Effiong said presidential powers, including the powers of the Commander-in-Chief, are vested in the President and argued that the constitutional mechanism is intended to ensure that there is always a substantive or Acting President able to perform the functions of the office.
He questioned whether the required constitutional procedure had been followed since President Tinubu left the country on August 30.
“What President Tinubu has done is not only an abdication of his constitutional mandate; it is a brazen violation of the Constitution, and he should be compelled,” Effiong said.
He also called on the National Assembly to intervene, urging lawmakers to demonstrate that they are prepared to address the constitutional issue.
The lawyer’s comments come amid a wider debate over who is exercising presidential authority while both President Tinubu and Shettima are outside the country.
Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar also questioned the matter on Monday, asking whether the Section 145 procedure had been followed and who was exercising presidential authority.
The Presidency, however, has maintained that governance has not been disrupted by President Tinubu’s absence.
According to the Presidency,President Tinubu has remained in contact with officials in Nigeria and continued to direct government affairs while abroad. It also said that Shettima had been delegated to represent the President at official functions, while Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, would continue to represent the President at other engagements during Shettima’s absence.
The Federal Government has separately defended Shettima’s representation of President Tinubu at the UN General Assembly, saying the Vice President has been given a full mandate to represent Nigeria at the gathering.
The constitutional question therefore centres on the application of Section 145 to the President’s extended absence and whether the required formal process for an Acting President has been completed.