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African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has urged the National Assembly to invoke Section 145(2) of the 1999 Constitution and require Vice-President Kashim Shettima to serve as acting president.
Sowore made the demand in a statement after President Bola Tinubu extended his vacation abroad, arguing that the constitutional 21-day period for the President to transmit a written declaration about his absence had expired.
Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30, 2026, for a three-week vacation. On September 21, the Presidency announced that the President had extended his stay abroad by “a few days.”
Sowore argued that Section 145 requires a President proceeding on vacation to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, enabling the Vice-President to perform presidential functions as Acting President.
He further cited Section 145(2), which provides for action by the National Assembly where the President fails to transmit the declaration within 21 days.
According to Sowore, no public confirmation exists that Tinubu transmitted the declaration required under Section 145(1) to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Abbas Tajudeen.
“The National Assembly must immediately commence the constitutional process prescribed by Section 145(2) of the 1999 Constitution to mandate Vice-President Kashim Shettima to perform the functions of President as Acting President,” he said.
Sowore also challenged the Presidency’s description of Tinubu’s continued stay abroad as a “working vacation,” arguing that the Constitution does not provide such an exception.
He said the Presidency’s position that Tinubu continues to direct the affairs of the country from abroad does not resolve what he described as the constitutional requirement concerning the President’s absence.
“The Presidency cannot invent a ‘working vacation’ exception that does not appear in the Constitution,” Sowore said.
He urged Akpabio and Tajudeen to clarify whether they had received the declaration required under Section 145(1).
“If they did not, the 21-day threshold has passed, and the National Assembly must begin the process prescribed by Section 145(2) to mandate Vice-President Kashim Shettima to perform the functions of President as Acting President,” he said.
Sowore said the issue was no longer simply about the President’s vacation but about adherence to constitutional provisions governing presidential absence.
“This is no longer about Tinubu’s vacation. It is about whether Nigeria will be governed according to its Constitution,” he said.
TINUBU’S FAILURE TO OFFICIALLY HAND OVER POWER AFTER 21 DAYS: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MUST ACT TO REMOVE HIM NOW UNDER SECTION 145 OF THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION
The National Assembly must immediately commence the constitutional process prescribed by Section 145(2) of the 1999… pic.twitter.com/AIsmKTfJ15
— Omoyele Sowore (@sowore) September 22, 2026
