A legal practitioner, Mr. Ekemini Udim, has said that the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to extend his vacation abroad beyond 21 days without transmitting a written declaration to the National Assembly is in breach of the 1999 Constitution, and that the National Assembly ought to convene an emergency sitting to remedy the position.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/NBBSPIDEL.png")
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-Summer-IDRI-Masterclass.jpg")
Mr. Udim, who joined the programme Lunchtime Politics on Channels Television from Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, spoke as the period contemplated by section 145 of the Constitution elapsed, with the President still abroad and the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The programme took viewers through the relevant provisions, beginning with section 1 of the Constitution, which provides that the Constitution is supreme and that its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic.
It then turned to section 5, relied upon by a spokesperson for the President, Mr. Daniel Bwala, which vests the executive powers of the Federation in the President and permits their exercise by him directly or through the Vice President, ministers of the Government of the Federation, or officers in the public service.
The third provision, and the source of the controversy, was section 145, under which the President, whenever proceeding on vacation or otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, shall transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and under which, where he fails to do so within 21 days, the National Assembly shall by a resolution passed by a simple majority of each chamber mandate the Vice President to perform the functions of the office as Acting President until the President transmits a declaration that he is available to resume.
Asked directly whether the President’s conduct breaches the Constitution and threatens constitutional democracy, Mr. Udim did not qualify his answer.
“The answer is yes. The action of the President, with due respect to him and to his office, is in breach of the Constitution,” he said.
“The Constitution has given a clear provision as to what the President should do whenever he is travelling out of the country on vacation. He is expected to communicate that to the National Assembly, and then power should be transmitted to the Vice President.”
He invoked the oath of office: “Don’t forget that when the President took the oath of office, he did so holding the Constitution in his hand, the same way it is done by any other president that has taken the oath of office in civilian administration in this country. One would have expected that we move forward, we make progress as a democracy, and we respect the Constitution.”
He added that the President ought to lead by example and hand over to his deputy for the period of his absence.
Responding to the reliance placed on section 5 by the presidential spokesperson, Mr. Udim drew the distinction between general and specific provisions.
“There is something called general provision of the Constitution and specific provision of the Constitution. Section 5 is general in the sense that it allows the President the power to delegate his own power to ministers and any other person he chooses. But section 145 is specific. It talks about what the President should do when he’s leaving the country on vacation.”
“That section 145 takes precedence over section 5 of the Constitution that my learned friend cited, and I thought that that should be clarified.”
The host noted that another lawyer, who had sued former President Muhammadu Buhari over the same question in a matter said to be on appeal, drew a related distinction between executive powers, which may be delegated, and presidential powers such as the office of Commander-in-Chief and the appointment and removal of ministers, which may be exercised only by a President or an Acting President. He recalled that it was on that footing that a former Vice President, acting as President, was able to remove the Director-General of the Department of State Services.
Mr. Udim argued that the reluctance to transmit power is difficult to reconcile with the manner in which tickets are constituted.
“As we are preparing for the 2027 election, all the presidential candidates of the leading political parties, and even those of the political parties that we may not call, they all have their deputies. It is mandatory that you must submit their names to INEC, and you cannot submit the name of the deputy without the input of the man whose name will be on the ballot.”
“Therefore, one would have expected that every presidential candidate that nominates a deputy has full trust and confidence in that deputy, and it shouldn’t be a difficult thing for the President to transmit power to his deputy whenever he’s not going to be in the country for upward of 21 days. And today is 22 days.”
Asked whether the National Assembly ought to be convened in emergency session, Mr. Udim said he found its silence difficult to understand.
“I am personally surprised that the National Assembly is not alarmed by the fact that the President is out of the country for 22 days now. No communication to that effect. No transmission of power to the deputy. Twenty-two days.”
“I’m surprised that the National Assembly is not alarmed by the fact that we do not have a President in this country as we speak. Nobody to exercise the function of the office of President of Nigeria under the Constitution, and nobody to exercise the function of an Acting President. This is enough to alarm any National Assembly.”
He said that had the legislature been so alarmed, “by now we would have seen them resume plenary on emergency sitting to ensure that the Constitution is complied with,” activating the provision that allows the National Assembly to reconvene and, by simple majority, mandate the Vice President to exercise the powers of the office.
He later expressed the hope that the leadership of both chambers would act without delay: “I expect that before the end of today the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives will convene an emergency meeting of the two houses, sit down and do what the Constitution says they should do. There is still time; today is not over. We expect to see that before the end of today or at least first thing tomorrow morning.”
“I mean, this is not an issue of politics. It is an issue of law and constitution,” he said, adding that a failure to act would amount to the National Assembly failing the Constitution and the purpose for which it exists. “It’s not a case of hating the President. It’s a case of doing what the law says should be done.”
Mr. Udim identified a further complication, namely that the Vice President is also outside the country.
“So we have a situation where the President is out of the country, the Vice President is out of the country,” he said.
He argued that representation at the United Nations could have been handled otherwise: “Anybody can represent the President. If the President is not there, the Minister of Foreign Affairs can be there representing the President of Nigeria, and the minister would be allowed to speak. Having someone in charge in Nigeria, having someone take care of the face of Nigeria at home, in this case the Acting President being the Vice President, is even more important than attending.”
“One would have thought that, since the President is not in the country, he would have transmitted power to the Vice President, and the Vice President would be in the country on his behalf while another person attends. Having not done that, the ball is now in the court of the National Assembly to ensure that we do not have this vacuum exist in the country, because it is never within the contemplation of the Constitution that there should be a vacuum in governance.”
To illustrate the point, Mr. Udim recalled the succession following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.
He recounted that Vice President Lyndon Johnson was taken aboard Air Force One, that no judge was immediately available so a local judge had to be brought to the aircraft, that there was no copy of the constitution on board, and that the prayer book of the late President was used, with his widow present in her bloodstained clothes, so that the swearing in could proceed.
“To show you how America would not allow the office of the President to be empty even for one minute,” he said. “Now we do not even have a disaster in Nigeria. It is the President going on vacation. It would have been very simple to transmit power for the Vice President to act in his place until he returns. And for me, I do not think that that is too much to expect from the President of our country.”
Put to him directly whether, if Nigeria were attacked by an external force at that moment, the President would have a constitutional right to command the military, given that power had not been transmitted and the Vice President could not lawfully command it either, Mr. Udim answered without qualification.
“No, he cannot. By a combination of section 145(1) and (2), you look at those two sections together. The President of Nigeria that is currently in France, or any other part of Europe, cannot command the armed forces of Nigeria legally from where he is.”
“You cannot govern Nigeria from outside. You cannot govern Nigeria in absentia. The office of the President is the office that requires the President to be there in the country working for the citizens of the country.”
He continued: “The intent of the makers of the Constitution was not that the President should exercise the functions of the office of President outside Nigeria, more so having stayed beyond 21 days outside the country. Nigeria is not an appendage of any other country. It is a sovereign nation, and therefore part of the sovereignty of Nigeria is the fact that we must have a President that is available and that is exercising the powers of the office in the country.”
He described the consequence as unfortunate: “We have a country where, if something happens from next door, we have neighbours surrounding Nigeria, should anything happen from there, we do not have anybody right now in the country that can fully command the military or the armed forces to take action within the bounds of the law.”
The host raised a further textual point, noting that the Constitution speaks of the President “proceeding on vacation” without reference to any destination, and that a vacation is simply a designated period spent away from work for rest, recreation or travel. He asked whether the obligation would equally arise if the President were on vacation within Nigeria.
Mr. Udim said it would.
“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, for as long as the President is set to go on vacation. That means he’s set to have his annual leave.”
He noted that the courts themselves were on their annual break, observing that lawyers and judges had been on vacation for about two months, and that rest is necessary. “The law contemplates the President of the country going on a well-deserved vacation. To govern Nigeria is a lot of headache. So he needs to go on vacation.”
“And the contemplation of the law is that, for as long as the President is out of that office on vacation, that office should not be without someone to exercise the same powers of the President. In this case, he should hand over to the Vice President. Whether he’s going to a ranch, or he is going to Yankari reserve, or any other part of the country, and even when he’s going outside the country, he needs to hand over to the Vice President to act on his behalf. And for me, I do not think this should be a difficult thing to do.”
Earlier on the programme, the Minister of Power said the Federal Government has no plans to increase electricity tariffs, describing reports to the contrary as an attempt to whip up political sentiment ahead of next year’s general elections.
Speaking to journalists in his office, the minister said he had been inundated with calls over the weekend following the reports.
“I’m saying this without making a political statement. It’s not a political statement,” he said. “This government, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, where I’m the Minister of Power, I have no immediate plans to increase tariffs.”
“Anybody pondering around modifying videos and sending things around to insinuate that we’re planning to increase tariff, honestly speaking, is not true. So let me tell Nigerians today that this government has no plan to increase tariff, and I’m saying it in my capacity as Minister of Power.”
He added: “In this journey, I’ve always said resolving the problem in the power sector is a marathon and not a sprint, and because it’s a marathon we need to work together. If we want to go far, then we have to walk together.”
The programme also reported that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike, reaffirmed his support for the President’s re-election, saying his primary political concern is to ensure that a second term is secured.
Speaking in Abuja after inspecting ongoing road and infrastructure projects in the territory, he clarified that the rainbow coalition is a cross-party platform for mobilising support for the President, and not a structure designed to weaken the All Progressives Congress.
“My concern is that the President will be re-elected for a second term. That is my concern, and I made that known from all sides, that I was going to support Mr. President with all my might and strength,” he said.
“I’m not bothered about the accusations, but it’s very, very disappointing to hear some people say the rainbow will destabilise the party. I don’t understand from which angle that will be. We have not gone to anybody to say don’t support anybody. We said all our party members, all those like minds who are not APC members, to please ensure that they support Mr. President.”
Recalling the 2023 precedent, he asked: “This is not the first time. First of all, 2023, when it was G5. Why is it that nobody complained that it would destabilise the party? Did the President not win? Did it affect APC controlling the National Assembly?”
The programme also reported that a retired Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Mr. Jonathan Kur, is heading the committee constituted to investigate the reported deaths of 37 persons described as illegal miners in Niger State.
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
