Banner Online News

‘Publish presidential handover letter or explain why National Assembly has not acted’

By Our Correspondent 

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has thrown a fresh constitutional challenge at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding to know who is exercising the powers of the Nigerian President as Tinubu’s announced 21-day vacation period elapses.

Atiku’s question came on Monday as Tinubu remained abroad on the three-week annual leave announced by the Presidency, while Vice President Kashim Shettima was also outside Nigeria in New York, representing the President at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.

Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a three-week vacation, beginning in London before proceeding to France.

In a strongly worded statement, Atiku invoked Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, demanding that the Presidency disclose whether Tinubu transmitted the constitutionally required written declaration to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives before leaving the country.

According to him, Nigerians have not been shown any such declaration transferring presidential functions to Shettima.

“Twenty-one days have now elapsed. If such a letter exists, the Presidency should publish it immediately,” Atiku said.

He warned that if no such declaration was transmitted, the National Assembly should explain why it had not activated the constitutional procedure provided for under Section 145(2).

The provision deals with the situation where a President fails to transmit the required declaration within 21 days, with the National Assembly empowered to mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.

Atiku insisted that the matter was not one of political convenience but of constitutional order.

“This is not a matter of political convenience. It is a matter of constitutional order,” he said.

The former Vice President’s challenge comes at a particularly striking moment, with both Tinubu and Shettima currently outside Nigeria.

The Presidency announced on Sunday that Tinubu had mandated Shettima to represent him and lead Nigeria’s delegation to the 81st UN General Assembly in New York. The Vice President is expected to deliver Nigeria’s national statement and participate in high-level and bilateral meetings.

Information Minister Mohammed Idris subsequently said Tinubu’s decision to send Shettima was because the President was on annual leave and insisted that the arrangement did not diminish Nigeria’s diplomatic representation.

But Atiku said the explanation did not resolve the constitutional question.

“So again: who is exercising presidential authority in Nigeria today, and under what constitutional instrument?” he asked.

He also took aim at what he described as an informal approach to presidential governance while Tinubu remains abroad.

“Nigeria cannot be governed by assumptions. It cannot be governed by presidential social-media posts from Europe.

“It cannot be governed by photographs from private dinners at the Élysée Palace.

“It cannot be governed on autopilot,” he said.

Atiku further questioned the situation against the backdrop of recent developments at home, including the deaths of 37 Nigerians in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger State, and rising petrol prices in parts of the country.

He said the circumstances demanded visible and constitutionally grounded leadership.

“These are not ordinary times. Yet the President is abroad. The Vice President is abroad. The Senate President is abroad,” Atiku said.

He then posed the question he said the Presidency and National Assembly must answer:

“Who, constitutionally, is in charge of Nigeria?”

Atiku also demanded answers from the two presiding officers of the National Assembly.

He called on the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to tell Nigerians whether they received any written communication from Tinubu transmitting presidential authority before his departure.

And if no such declaration was received within the stipulated period, he demanded that the National Assembly explain why the procedure provided under Section 145(2) had not been activated.

The issue has generated wider public discussion, particularly because Tinubu, Shettima and Senate President Godswill Akpabio have all been reported to be outside Nigeria at the same time.

Atiku said Nigeria could not afford ambiguity over the exercise of presidential authority, particularly at a time of economic hardship, security concerns and growing public anxiety.

“President Tinubu’s private dinner with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris may serve diplomatic purposes. But Nigeria itself cannot be placed on vacation,” he said.

“The Constitution does not recognise a ‘working vacation’ as an alternative system of presidential succession.

“It provides a procedure. That procedure must be obeyed.”

Atiku concluded by insisting that the constitutional question was bigger than any individual office holder.

“Nigeria is bigger than any President,” he said.

“The question will not disappear: Who, constitutionally, is in charge of Nigeria?”