For the next three weeks, President Bola Tinubu will be away from Nigeria on vacation, reviving controversy over whether a Nigerian president can proceed on holiday and continue to exercise the powers of his office, or does the Constitution require him to transfer those powers to the vice president.
Mr Tinubu left Abuja on Sunday for Europe, with London as his first destination. The Presidency said the trip is part of his annual leave and described it as a “working vacation.” He is expected to return after three weeks.
At almost the same time, Vice-President Kashim Shettima travelled to Luanda, Angola, where he was representing the president at an African Union summit. Mr Shettima returned to Nigeria on Monday, a day after the president embarked on vacation.
Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesperson who announced the president’s trip, did not indicate if he transmitted the written declaration required under Section 145(1) of the Constitution before embarking on the trip.
Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution requires the president to transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives whenever he proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform the functions of his office. Once such a declaration is transmitted, the vice president is required to perform the functions of the president as acting president.
