Tinubu’s 21-Day Absence: Sowore Tells NASS To Invoke Section 145, Hand Power To Shettima

Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2027 general election, Omoyele Sowore, has urged the National Assembly to invoke Section 145(2) of the 1999 Constitution and mandate Vice-President Kashim Shettima to perform the functions of President as Acting President.

Sowore made the call after the 21-day period he said was allowed for Tinubu’s vacation expired, while the President remained outside Nigeria.

Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30, 2026, for a three-week vacation. However, the Presidency announced on September 21 that he had extended his stay abroad by a few days.

In a statement, Sowore argued that Section 145 requires the President, whenever he proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He said Section 145(2) provides that where the President fails or is unable to transmit the declaration within 21 days, the National Assembly shall, by a simple majority in each chamber, mandate the Vice-President to perform the functions of President as Acting President.

Sowore said there had been no public confirmation that a declaration under Section 145(1) transferring presidential functions to Shettima had been transmitted.

He, therefore, called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas to clarify whether they had received the declaration required under the Constitution.

Sowore also rejected the Presidency’s description of Tinubu’s stay abroad as a “working vacation,” arguing that the Constitution did not provide such an exception.

He said the Presidency’s claim that Tinubu continued to direct the affairs of government from abroad did not resolve what he described as the constitutional question surrounding the President’s absence.

The Presidency had said Tinubu remained engaged with the affairs of government while abroad and had extended his working vacation by a few days.

It also said Shettima had been delegated to represent the President at some official functions.

Sowore maintained that if the required declaration had not been transmitted within the period stipulated by Section 145, the National Assembly should commence the process provided under Section 145(2).

He said the issue was no longer simply about the President’s vacation but whether the constitutional procedure governing presidential absence had been followed.l