Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of violating the Nigerian Constitution by proceeding on vacation without transmitting power to Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Dalung made the allegation on Daily Trust’s News Hour on Monday while reacting to Tinubu’s prolonged absence from the country.
The Presidency had described Tinubu’s trip as a “working vacation”. It said the President departed Nigeria on August 30 for Europe for a three-week vacation and later extended his stay by a few days.
However, Dalung argued that the expression “working vacation” had no basis in the Constitution, insisting that Section 145 clearly sets out the procedure to be followed when the President proceeds on vacation.
“The Nigerian president proceeded on vacation. It was announced that he was going to proceed on working vacation. Again, the concept, working vacation is incongruous and unknown in our Constitution.
“There is nothing called working vacation or working leave. The Constitution does not recognise that. The media or the press cannot amend the Constitution of Nigeria with a press statement.
“Where we are is whether the president has complied or has violated the Constitution and in my opinion, he has done that,” he said.
Section 145(1) of the Constitution provides that whenever the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he shall 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 is to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
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Dalung said the issue was not whether Tinubu could continue performing official duties while abroad, but whether the constitutional procedure governing temporary presidential absence had been followed.
“The issue here is not that the absence of the president has affected anything, it is a constitutional issue which is dealt with in Section 145 subsection 1,” he said.
“The rule is clear, when the president proceeds on a vacation. Whether it is a one day vacation, five minutes vacation, the Constitution requires that a vacuum will not exist at all.
“It is not about performance of a government function, he will have to transmit that of acting president to his vice and the requirement and expression here is ‘shall’.”
The former minister also questioned why the National Assembly had not invoked Section 145(2), which provides for action if the President fails to transmit the required declaration within 21 days.
“The conversation should be why has the president failed to comply with Section 145 subsection 1 of the Constitution and why has the National Assembly failed to comply with Section 145 subsection 2 which says that if a president fails to transmit or delegate for a period of 21 days after proceeding on leave, the National Assembly shall with a simple majority mandate the Vice President to act in that capacity,” Dalung said.
He added that the President could work from anywhere if he was not formally proceeding on vacation, but argued that the constitutional requirement applied once he announced that he was on leave.
“If the president is not proceeding on vacation, he can work anywhere in the world but the moment the president announces that he is proceeding on a leave, the Constitution requires him to transmit power.”
The Presidency has said Tinubu continued to direct the affairs of the country while abroad, including ordering an independent panel to investigate the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in Niger State. It also said Shettima represented the President at some official engagements during the period.
Dalung, however, said Nigerians deserved clearer information about the President’s whereabouts and activities.
“We have to depend on the state press media to give us transparent information of the president’s whereabouts and what he is doing, and must be accountable for where the president is.
“But as it is, they are economical with the truth. Nigerians need to know where their president is and what he is doing.”
He further criticised the National Assembly for not taking action under Section 145, concluding that Nigeria was “living in what we call democratic anarchy with impunity as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The constitutional provision itself states that if the President fails to transmit the required written declaration within 21 days, the National Assembly may, by a simple majority of each chamber, mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.
