The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised alarm over the simultaneous absence of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima from Nigeria, questioning who is constitutionally in charge of the country while both leaders are abroad.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, raised the concerns while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, arguing that the situation had created a constitutional question over the exercise of presidential authority.
Abdullahi challenged the Federal Government’s explanation that Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, was coordinating affairs while Tinubu was on a working vacation in France.
“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? Who has the authority of the Commander-in-Chief?” he asked.
According to the ADC spokesperson, the issue should be considered against the provisions of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for the transfer of presidential functions to the Vice President when the President is proceeding on vacation or otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office.
Abdullahi argued that the Constitution did not provide for an indefinite “working vacation” arrangement that would allow the President to remain outside the country without a formal transfer of presidential functions.
“Did it in any way recognise the possibility of a working vacation, that the Nigerian President can relocate to another country? Because if that absurdity were to be contemplated, it means that it did not matter whether the President of Nigeria spent an entire year in another country, as long as he can claim that it’s a working vacation,” he said.
He also questioned the role being assigned to the SGF in the absence of both the President and Vice President, arguing that the SGF was a presidential appointee and not part of the constitutional line of presidential succession.
He faulted the National Assembly for not intervening, saying lawmakers should consider reconvening to address what he described as an important constitutional matter.
“So, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who was merely an appointee of the President, is the one in charge of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, how did we get to this point?” The situation we are in is so serious that the Nigerian Senate or the Nigerian National Assembly should reconvene in an emergency to address this issue,” he added.
Abdullahi also drew a comparison with the circumstances surrounding the prolonged illness of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, which preceded the constitutional amendment establishing a procedure for transferring presidential functions during temporary absence.
He said the current situation was different because both Tinubu and Shettima were outside the country, with the Vice President in New York representing the President at the United Nations.
“Nobody envisaged that anybody would drag this country down to this ridiculous absurdity that the President of Nigeria will be out of the country on a working vacation in the capital of France, while the Vice President represents him in another country,” Abdullahi stated.
Asked whether there could be undisclosed national, medical or family reasons for Tinubu’s prolonged absence, Abdullahi said such circumstances should be communicated to Nigerians if they existed.
“If it is medical, let them tell us,” he asked.
He maintained that his position was based on publicly available information and not speculation about the President’s activities while abroad.
“I don’t know him, Seun. I can only stick to the facts available to me,” Abdullahi said, adding that the facts available to him were that the President was outside the country, the Vice President was also abroad, and the Presidency had indicated that the SGF was coordinating affairs in Nigeria.
He said the ADC was examining possible legal options over the situation, including the constitutional implications of the President’s absence.
“We are looking at it. Because there is a potential for impeachment in this. When you violate the Constitution of Nigeria without consequences, then what else is left?” he said.
Abdullahi further criticised the National Assembly for what he described as its failure to exercise its constitutional oversight responsibilities over the executive.
He said the ADC was also concerned about electoral violence ahead of the 2027 general elections and what it described as the wider implications of the Federal Government’s policies.