President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has dismissed calls for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to formally hand over power to Vice President Kashim Shettima, insisting that there is no leadership vacuum in the country.
Akpabio spoke on Tuesday in Akwa Ibom State while commissioning road projects executed by Governor Umo Eno, where he addressed concerns surrounding Tinubu’s continued stay abroad on what the Presidency has described as a working vacation.
The Senate President maintained that Tinubu remains in charge of the affairs of the country despite the extension of his vacation, arguing that modern communication technology allows the President to continue discharging his constitutional responsibilities from outside 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 dismissed suggestions that the President’s absence amounted to a vacancy in the presidency, stressing that Tinubu was still exercising presidential authority.
“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 recent diplomatic engagements involving the President as evidence that Tinubu remains actively involved in governance, citing communications between the Nigerian leader and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The comments come amid public debate over the President’s extended stay abroad and calls in some quarters for him to transmit power to the Vice President in accordance with constitutional provisions on presidential absence.
While no formal return date has been announced for Tinubu, Akpabio’s remarks sought to reassure Nigerians that the President remained in control and that there is no leadership vacuum at the federal level.
