President Bola Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria on Sunday, following an extended working vacation in Europe. According to presidency sources, Tinubu will fly into Lagos, where he will remain for approximately a week before officially returning to the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The President initially departed Nigeria for London on August 30, and later proceeded to Paris, France, where he held strategic meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and prominent businessman Vincent Bolloré.
Tinubu's trip was initially described as a scheduled three-week working vacation forming part of his annual leave. However, the presidency later announced that the President had extended his stay abroad by a few days, clarifying that he would return to Nigeria over the weekend. Despite his physical absence, the President's Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, assured the public that Tinubu remained fully in touch with developments at home and continued to actively direct government affairs from abroad.
Tinubu's prolonged absence has triggered a heated constitutional debate, with critical questions raised regarding the legal implications of the president remaining outside the country for more than 21 days without formally transferring presidential powers to Vice-President Kashim Shettima. According to Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, the President must transmit a written declaration to the leadership of the National Assembly, officially empowering the Vice-President to perform executive functions in an acting capacity.
A coalition of House of Representatives members, operating under the aegis of the Save Democracy Group, demanded that the National Assembly reconvene from its annual recess to determine whether the President had fully complied with constitutional requirements concerning his prolonged absence. The lawmakers urged both the Senate President and the Speaker of the House to publicly disclose if Tinubu had transmitted the written declaration required under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.
The extended vacation has drawn sharp criticism from opposition figures, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the African Democratic Congress (ADC). They have all separately questioned the legality of the extended leave and sought explicit clarification on how presidential powers are being exercised.
In response to the growing controversy, Senate President Godswill Akpabio firmly stated that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock, emphasizing that President Tinubu remains fully in charge of the nation's affairs despite his physical absence. Akpabio warned that the President's working vacation should not be misconstrued as a transfer of power or an executive vacancy.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Kashim Shettima departed for New York on September 20 to officially represent President Tinubu and lead Nigeria's delegation at the 81st United Nations General Assembly. With Tinubu's return to Lagos on Sunday, the nation awaits his official return to Abuja and the resolution of the constitutional debate surrounding his prolonged absence.
Key points
- President Tinubu to return to Lagos on Sunday after extended working vacation in Europe
- Tinubu's prolonged absence triggers constitutional debate on presidential powers
- Opposition figures question legality of extended leave and presidential powers exercise
