A political party called the African Democratic Congress said on Tuesday that nobody knows who is in charge of Nigeria right now.
President Bola Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 and has been away for more than 21 days.
Vice President Kashim Shettima is also outside the country.
The ADC party said the Constitution has a rule about this situation.
They said if the president is going to be away, he must write a letter to the Senate President and the House Speaker telling them he is leaving and who will be in charge.
The ADC asked if the president sent this letter. If he did not, they said, then the Constitution rule should kick in.
The ADC said the government is calling the president’s trip a working vacation, but that does not change the Constitution.
They said a working vacation is not a real thing in the Constitution.
They said the president cannot just run Nigeria from far away by sending messages and having people represent him at events.
The ADC said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, cannot exercise the president’s powers just because he is representing the president at meetings and events.
They said representing the president at something is not the same as having the power to run the country.
They said Nigeria cannot be run through telephone calls and press statements from another country.
The ADC said it is even worse because both the president and vice president are away at the same time.
They said this is bad timing because Nigeria has security problems, people without jobs and high prices for things.
The ADC also criticized the president for staying in Paris after the French President Macron left Paris to go to New York for the United Nations.
They said it is embarrassing that while other world leaders are at the United Nations trying to help their countries, Nigeria’s president stayed in Paris.
The ADC asked the government to answer this question: Who right now has the power to be the president of Nigeria according to the Constitution?
