President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has dismissed calls for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to transfer power to Vice President Kashim Shettima, insisting that there is no leadership vacuum despite the President’s extended working vacation abroad.
Akpabio spoke on Tuesday in Akwa Ibom State while commissioning road projects executed by Governor Umo Eno. He was responding to concerns over Tinubu’s three-week holiday, which was recently extended by another week.
The Senate President maintained that Tinubu remains in office and continues to discharge his constitutional responsibilities despite his absence from the country.
“I am the Senate President, and I am not the acting President of Nigeria, because President Tinubu is still in power. He is on a working leave, and there is no absence in Aso Rock. The world is a global village, and one can give instructions over the internet. So, why are people complaining?” Akpabio said.
He further argued that there was no basis for declaring a presidential vacancy, saying Tinubu remained in charge of the affairs of the country.
“Right now, there is no vacancy. Asiwaju Tinubu is still in power, and he is still running the affairs of Nigeria,” he added.
Akpabio also pointed to the President’s continued diplomatic engagements as evidence that Tinubu remains actively involved in governance. He cited recent communications between the President and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Calls for Tinubu to formally transfer power to Shettima have centred on the President’s prolonged absence from the country and concerns over continuity in the administration of government.
The Presidency has yet to announce a specific date for Tinubu’s return to Nigeria. Akpabio’s comments, however, reaffirm the position of the Senate leadership that the President’s absence on a working vacation does not constitute a leadership vacuum.
