Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has accused President Bola Tinubu of breaching the Nigerian Constitution by proceeding on what the Presidency described as a “working vacation” without transmitting power to Vice President Kashim Shettima.
NEWSNGR reports that Dalung made the allegation on Monday during an interview on Daily Trust’s News Hour, while commenting on Tinubu’s prolonged stay outside Nigeria.
Section 145(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that whenever the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform 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, after which the Vice-President performs the functions of President as Acting President. The same section provides for National Assembly action if such a declaration is not transmitted within 21 days.
Reacting to the development, Dalung argued that the expression working vacation had no constitutional basis, insisting that the relevant provision dealt specifically with a President proceeding on vacation.
He said, “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.”
The former minister said the debate should not centre on whether Tinubu remained capable of communicating with officials or performing government functions from abroad.
According to him, the central issue was whether the constitutional procedure governing presidential absence had been followed.
He further stated, “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.
“The rule is clear when the president proceeds on vacation. Whether it is a one-day vacation, a five-minute 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’.”
Dalung also questioned why the National Assembly had not acted under Section 145(2), which allows both chambers to mandate the Vice-President to perform the functions of President if the required declaration is not transmitted within 21 days.
He said, “The conversation should be why the president has failed to comply with Section 145 subsection 1 of the Constitution and why the National Assembly has 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.
“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.”
Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency initially described as a three-week working vacation in Europe. The Presidency subsequently announced that the President had extended his stay by a few days and was expected to return at the weekend.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has, however, maintained that there was no leadership vacuum, saying Tinubu remained in charge and continued to direct the affairs of government while outside the country.
Dalung also called for greater transparency concerning the President’s whereabouts and activities while abroad.
He added, “We have to depend on the state press media to give us transparent information on 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.
“So, we are living in what we call democratic anarchy with impunity as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
