AAC sues Tinubu, National Assembly over failure to transfer power to Shettim

The African Action Congress (AAC) has sued President Bola Tinubu before a federal high court in Abuja over his alleged failure to transmit power to Vice-President Kashim Shettima during his prolonged vacation in Europe, TheCable reports.

The suit, filed Monday by AAC national legal adviser Inibehe Effiong, names Tinubu, Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the National Assembly as defendants in their official capacities.

The party is asking the court to determine whether Tinubu could lawfully proceed on vacation without transmitting a written declaration under Section 145(1) of the Constitution, and whether his failure to do so before leaving for Europe on August 30 was unconstitutional.

AAC is also challenging the National Assembly’s inaction after his absence exceeded 21 days, questioning whether its failure to pass a resolution empowering Shettima as acting president violated Section 145(2).

Among the reliefs sought, the party wants a declaration that Tinubu is constitutionally bound to transmit such a declaration before any vacation, alongside a perpetual injunction restraining him from doing otherwise in future.

Tinubu left for London on August 30 for what the presidency called a three-week working vacation, later extending his stay after engagements in Paris, with his return date shifting multiple times before Tuesday, September 29 was fixed.

The suit adds a fresh legal dimension to a controversy that has already drawn criticism from Atiku Abubakar and the ADC, placing the courts now at the center of determining whether Tinubu’s extended absence breached the Constitution.