- Tinubu Extends Working Vacation, To Return Weekend
- Atiku: Who’s Constitutionally In Charge? Nigeria Cannot Be Governed On Autopilot
- ADC Blasts Tinubu, Shettima Absence, Warns Of ‘Dangerous Precedent’
- Sowore: Tinubu Extended His Stay In Europe To Undergo Further Medical Treatment
Fresh controversy has erupted over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s prolonged absence from Nigeria, with opposition figures and critics questioning the decision to extend his working vacation as the country confronts a range of security, economic and political challenges.
TheMatrix Newspaper reports that the Presidency announced on Monday that Tinubu, who left Nigeria on August 30 for a working vacation in London, would return at the weekend after extending his stay by a few more days.
The announcement comes as world leaders and senior government officials gather in New York for the high-level week of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, with the general debate scheduled to begin on September 22.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima is representing Nigeria at the UNGA and is expected to deliver the country’s national statement.
Presidency Defends Tinubu’s Absence
The Presidency said Tinubu had remained engaged with affairs of government throughout his stay abroad, maintaining contact with officials at home and issuing directives on national matters.
It cited the President’s order for an independent panel to investigate the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna.
The Presidency also said Tinubu had delegated Shettima to represent him at some official functions while he was away.
With Shettima travelling to New York on September 20 for the UNGA, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, will continue representing the President at official engagements, according to Onanuga.
The Presidency further disclosed that, on the political front, the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abubakar Yari, had been leading consultations with prominent traditional rulers across the country.
Onanuga also criticised comments by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and a United States-based lobbying firm over Tinubu’s absence from the UNGA, describing the insinuations as “irresponsible.”
The Presidency, however, did not provide a detailed explanation for the extension of Tinubu’s vacation beyond saying that he would return to Nigeria at the weekend.
Reacting, former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, launched a fresh constitutional challenge over President Tinubu’s prolonged absence from Nigeria, demanding to know who is currently exercising presidential authority in the country.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Monday, September 21, 2026, questioned the status of Tinubu’s three-week vacation, which began on August 30 and has now been extended by a few days. The Presidency announced on Monday that Tinubu would return to Nigeria at the weekend.
The former vice president anchored his argument on Section 145 of the Constitution, insisting that Nigerians should be told whether Tinubu transmitted the required written declaration to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives before leaving the country.
“Twenty-one days have come and gone since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu left Nigeria on what the Presidency described as a three-week annual vacation,” Atiku said.
“Today, Nigerians are entitled to ask a very simple constitutional question: Who is in charge of Nigeria?”
According to Atiku, Section 145 provides that when the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform his functions, he is to transmit a written declaration to the National Assembly eadership, after which the Vice President performs presidential functions as Acting President.
He further argued that where such a declaration is not transmitted within 21 days, the Constitution provides for the National Assembly to mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
Atiku said Nigerians had not been shown any such constitutional communication transferring presidential authority to Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“If such a letter exists, the Presidency should publish it immediately,” he demanded.
“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.”
‘Nigeria Cannot Be Governed On Autopilot’
The ADC candidate said the issue was not about political convenience but “constitutional order”, particularly with both Tinubu and Shettima currently outside Nigeria.
Shettima travelled to New York on September 20 to represent Tinubu at the 81st United Nations General Assembly, while the Presidency said Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, would continue representing the President at some official functions.
Atiku consequently asked who was exercising presidential authority in the country and under what constitutional instrument.
“So again: who is exercising presidential authority in Nigeria today, and under what constitutional instrument?” he asked.
“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.”
Atiku also cited the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State, as well as rising petrol prices and the broader cost-of-living pressures facing Nigerians.
He argued that the developments underscored the need for clear and accountable presidential authority.
“These are not ordinary times. Yet the President is abroad. The Vice President is abroad. The Senate President is abroad,” Atiku said.
“And Nigerians have not been told, in the clear constitutional language required of a serious democracy, who is exercising the powers of the President.”
‘Nigeria Cannot Be Placed On Vacation’
Atiku also questioned the significance of Tinubu’s diplomatic engagements while abroad, including his meeting and private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“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 insisted that the constitutional question remained unanswered.
He called on the Presidency to immediately disclose whether Tinubu transmitted the declaration contemplated by Section 145(1) before leaving Nigeria.
He also challenged the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House to state whether they received such communication.
“The Presidency should therefore tell Nigerians immediately whether President Tinubu transmitted the declaration contemplated by Section 145(1) before leaving the country,” Atiku said.
“The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House should equally tell Nigerians whether such a communication was received.”
He further demanded an explanation from the National Assembly if no declaration was transmitted within the stipulated period.
“And if no declaration was transmitted within the constitutionally stipulated period, the National Assembly must explain why the procedure provided by Section 145(2) has not been activated,” he said.
Atiku concluded that the country needed visible and constitutionally grounded leadership amid economic hardship, rising energy costs, security challenges and controversies surrounding deaths in government custody.
“Nigeria is bigger than any President,” he said.
“The question will not disappear: Who, constitutionally, is in charge of Nigeria?”
Similarly, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) raised the alarm over the simultaneous absence of President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima from Nigeria, warning that the situation is creating a “very dangerous precedent” for the country’s constitutional order.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the assertion on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, as Tinubu’s stay abroad entered its fourth week and Shettima travelled to New York to represent Nigeria at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a working vacation. The Presidency announced on Monday that the President had extended his stay by a few days and would return to Nigeria at the weekend.
Shettima, meanwhile, departed Abuja on September 20 for New York to represent Tinubu at the UN General Assembly.
The Presidency has maintained that Tinubu remains in contact with officials at home and continues to direct the affairs of government despite his absence. It also said Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, would continue to represent the President at some official engagements while Shettima is away.
But the arrangement has triggered a fresh constitutional battle, with Abdullahi questioning whether Akume has any constitutional authority to assume presidential functions in the absence of both Tinubu and Shettima.
“Is SGF Akume now the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Is that what they are telling us? Is it the chain of succession that is spelt out by the Nigerian Constitution?” Abdullahi asked.
“Is the SGF, an appointee of the President, the one who should be in charge of the country when the President and Vice President are not around?”
‘Nobody Is In Charge’
The ADC spokesman accused the administration of disregarding constitutional safeguards and warned that the situation could establish a precedent that could outlive the present government.
“They insult the sensibility of Nigerians, they insult the Constitution,” Abdullahi said.
“They behave as if Nigeria will cease to exist after them. What they are doing is dangerous and they should realise that this will end one day. They are setting a very dangerous precedent, nobody is in charge of Nigeria now.”
His comments come against the backdrop of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that when a President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of office, the President is to transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, after which the Vice-President performs the functions as Acting President.
The same provision states that where the President fails to transmit the declaration within 21 days, the National Assembly may, by simple majority in each chamber, mandate the Vice-President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
Abdullahi argued that the Constitution does not recognise “working vacation” as an alternative arrangement for presidential succession, insisting that the prolonged absence raises questions that should be addressed by the National Assembly.
ADC Demands National Assembly Action
The ADC spokesman therefore called on the National Assembly to reconvene from its recess to address what he described as the constitutional questions arising from Tinubu’s prolonged absence and Shettima’s trip to New York.
He, however, alleged that the lawmakers would not reconvene because, in his view, they were too closely aligned with the Tinubu administration.
The controversy has intensified following the Presidency’s announcement that Tinubu’s working vacation has been extended by a few more days.
While the administration says governance has continued uninterrupted and that the President remains fully engaged from abroad, the ADC is challenging the constitutional basis of the arrangement and demanding clarity over who formally exercises presidential authority when both the President and Vice-President are outside the country.
In a related development, the 2027 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that President Tinubu extended his stay in Europe to undergo further medical treatment.
Sowore made the allegation in a post on X on Monday claiming that the extension was linked to medical treatment and suggested that Tinubu’s return was being timed around preparations for the 2027 presidential election.
“Soon as I raised the real reason Tinubu couldn’t go to #UNGA, even when his so-called host, @EmmanuelMacron had left for #UNGA, Tinubu @officialABAT announced he would extend his vacation by a few more days,” Sowore wrote.
“I am certain this was to get more medical treatment and then return to Nigeria packaged for a re-selection they’ve been planning all along for 2027.”
Sowore provided no evidence in the post to substantiate his claim about medical treatment.
‘Who Is In Charge?’
The AAC candidate also questioned the constitutional situation arising from the simultaneous absence of Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, who left Nigeria on September 20 for New York to represent the President at the UN General Assembly.
He alleged that there had been no public disclosure of any formal transfer of presidential authority while both men were outside the country.
“In all these, not a single word about handing over to anyone as his VP is also in New York for the annual UN jamboree,” Sowore said.
‘Lies Have Collapsed’
Sowore further declared that the political developments surrounding Tinubu’s absence had exposed what he described as deception by the administration.
“But things are not going to be the same going forward; the lies, deception and subterfuge have collapsed,” he said, ending his post with the hashtag, #TinubuMustGo.
