Vacation: Atiku’s Aide calls for impeachment of Tinubu over extended stay

By Lateef Ibrahim

The prolonged absence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from Nigeria has triggered a fresh constitutional controversy, with a media aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar calling on the National Assembly to scrutinize the President’s continued stay abroad.

Paul Ibe, media aide to Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, argued that Tinubu’s stay in Europe beyond the initially announced three-week vacation raises questions about compliance with the constitutional procedure for presidential vacations.

Speaking on News Central TV, monitored in Abuja, Ibe said the National Assembly should consider initiating impeachment proceedings against the President, alleging that the constitutional requirements had not been complied with.

His argument centres on Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for a written declaration by the President to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives when proceeding on vacation or otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office.

Ibe questioned whether such a declaration was transmitted to the National Assembly, saying Nigerians deserved to know whether the constitutional requirement had been fulfilled.

“Today is the 23rd day and he is not coming back until the weekend according to the presidency,” he said.

Tinubu departed Nigeria on August 30 for London for what the Presidency described as a working vacation. He subsequently travelled to Paris, where he held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and businessman Vincent Bolloré. The Presidency announced on September 21 that the President had extended his stay by a few days and would return to Nigeria at the weekend.

The controversy has been heightened by the absence of Vice President Kashim Shettima, who travelled to New York to represent Nigeria at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.

The Presidency, however, maintains that Tinubu has remained in contact with officials in Nigeria and continued directing government affairs from abroad. It also said the President had delegated Shettima to represent him at some official engagements, while Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, continued representing him at other events.

Presidential aide Daniel Bwala has similarly argued that the President’s constitutional powers are not restricted by his physical location and that Tinubu can direct the affairs of Nigeria from anywhere in the world.

The disagreement has therefore shifted beyond the President’s travel plans to a broader question of how Section 145 should operate when a presidential absence extends beyond the period initially announced.

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