Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Presidency has declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can govern Nigeria from anywhere in the world, insisting that his constitutional powers are not limited by his physical location, as opposition figures intensify questions over who is exercising presidential authority while both the President and Vice President are outside the country.
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, made the assertion on Monday in a post on X, arguing that the President's absence from Nigeria does not diminish his authority to direct the affairs of state. "It is funny how opposition candidates are asking the question who is in charge of Nigeria simply because the President and Vice President are out of the country," Bwala wrote. "For avoidance of doubt, the power of the President to govern Nigeria is not limited to geography. As commander in chief of the armed forces, he can order, direct, delegate and/or administer the constitution of Nigeria anywhere in the world." The statement represents the most direct defence yet of Tinubu's extended stay abroad, which has now surpassed the three-week period initially announced by the Presidency.
Tinubu departed Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a three-week working vacation, travelling first to London and then to Paris, where he held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and businessman Vincent Bolloré. The State House announced on Monday that the President had extended the vacation by a few days and would return to Nigeria at the weekend. The Presidency maintained that Tinubu has continued to direct the affairs of government while abroad, citing his order for an independent panel to investigate the deaths of thirty-seven illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State, among other directives.
The constitutional question at the centre of the dispute concerns Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that whenever the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he shall transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Upon transmission of that declaration, the Vice President performs the functions of the President as Acting President until the President transmits a declaration to the contrary. Section 145(2) further provides that where the President fails to transmit the declaration within twenty-one days, the National Assembly may, by a simple majority of each chamber, mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of the President as Acting President.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, seized on that provision in a statement titled "Who is in charge of Nigeria?" issued on Monday. Atiku said twenty-one days had elapsed since Tinubu left Nigeria without Nigerians being shown any formal communication transferring presidential authority to Vice President Kashim Shettima. "If such a letter exists, the Presidency should publish it immediately," Atiku said. "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 stressed that the matter was one of constitutional order rather than political convenience. "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's intervention was echoed by other opposition figures. Dino Melaye, a chieftain of the ADC, questioned why the President and Vice President were both outside Nigeria simultaneously, noting that Shettima travelled to New York on Sunday to represent Tinubu at the 81st United Nations General Assembly. "The President and Vice President are out of the country. Power is not transmitted. Who is in charge of Nigeria as we speak?" Melaye asked. The African Democratic Congress, through its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, challenged the Federal Government's explanation that Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume was coordinating affairs in the absence of both leaders. "The Secretary to the Federal Government, is he now the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Were Nigeria to be invaded by a foreign army today, who is on the ground to direct the Nigerian Army appropriately?" Abdullahi asked. He called on the National Assembly to reconvene in an emergency to address the constitutional question.
Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, also weighed in, accusing Tinubu and Shettima of deserting Aso Rock without formally transferring power. "Tinubu has been away for more than 21 days, allegedly on vacation. The VP Kashim Shettima has also left Nigeria for UNGA, with no handover notes in sight. Who is in charge of Nigeria at the moment?" Sowore asked.
The Presidency has dismissed the criticism as irresponsible. In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the State House described the insinuation by Atiku and a United States-based lobbying firm about Tinubu's non-attendance at UNGA as baseless. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said Shettima was attending the General Assembly with the full authority of the President and Nigeria, insisting that Tinubu's absence would not diminish the country's diplomatic standing. "President Tinubu is currently on annual leave, and his decision to ask the Vice President to lead Nigeria's delegation is neither unusual nor a diminution of the country's diplomatic standing," Idris said.
The dispute comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the 2027 general elections, scheduled for January 16, with the governorship and state assembly elections following on February 6. Tinubu is seeking a second term, while Atiku, Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and several other candidates are challenging him. The question of who is exercising presidential authority in Nigeria is not merely a legal technicality; it speaks to public confidence in the continuity of governance at a time when the country faces multiple security and economic challenges. As Atiku put it, "Nigeria cannot be governed by assumptions. It cannot be governed by presidential social-media posts from Europe. It cannot be governed on autopilot." Whether the Presidency's assertion that geography does not limit presidential power will satisfy the opposition, the National Assembly or the Nigerian public remains to be seen. For now, the constitutional debate that Tinubu's extended vacation has triggered shows no sign of fading, and the coming days will determine whether the President's return to Nigeria at the weekend brings the controversy to a close or deepens it further.
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