Vacation: Tinubu Has Abdicated His Constitutional Mandate – Effiong

Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has described the absence of President Bola Tinubu from Nigeria for over 21 days without any official handover of power as a violation of constitutional duty.

According to him, the absence of both President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima from the country at the same time is a “brazen violation” of the 1999 Constitution.

Naija News reports that Effiong made the assertion on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Tuesday, while discussing the constitutional implications of the simultaneous absence of President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima from Nigeria.

Recall that President Tinubu has been outside Nigeria since August 30, for his annual vacation.

The Presidency, however, announced on Monday in a statement by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, that Tinubu 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 Tinubu and lead Nigeria’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In his submissions on the development, Effiong argued that Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution requires President Tinubu to formally transfer power when he proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform the functions of his office.

“Under Section 145, subsection one, under the Constitution, presidential powers are powers that are domiciled exclusively in the President, namely the powers of the Commander-in-Chief. It is not delegable,” he said.

He argued that there are certain constitutional functions that can only be performed by the President or an Acting President.

“That is the wisdom of Section 145 in saying that at all times there has to be a substantive President or an Acting President.

“Section 145(1) provides that when the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he is to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“Until he transmits a declaration to the contrary, the Vice President performs the functions of President as Acting President.

“The section further provides that where 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 President as Acting President,” Effiong added.

Effiong argued that what has happened with President Tinubu being out of the country for over 21 days, with no evidence to show there was a formal transfer of presidential powers, is an “abdication” of the President’s constitutional mandate and called on the National Assembly to intervene.

“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,” he said.

According to him, the National Assembly has a responsibility to address the issue and prove to Nigerians that they are not merely a rubber stamp.

“The National Assembly now has a duty, and this is the challenge to them to prove to Nigerians that they are not a rubber stamp. They must convene this morning to pass a resolution,” he added.