African Action Congress (AAC) has dragged President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the National Assembly before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the alleged failure to transfer presidential powers to Vice-President Kashim Shettima during Tinubu’s extended vacation.
Gatekeepers News reports that the suit was filed on Monday, September 28, 2026, by the party’s National Legal Adviser, Inibehe Effiong. The case, identified as FHC/ABJ/CS/2353/2026, also lists Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the National Assembly as defendants.
The AAC is asking the court to declare that Tinubu violated Section 145(1) of the 1999 Constitution by allegedly failing to transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and Speaker of the House before or during his vacation outside Nigeria.
Section 145(1) provides that when the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform the functions of his office, he is to transmit a written declaration to the two presiding officers of the National Assembly, after which the Vice-President performs the functions of President as Acting President.
The party also wants the court to determine whether the National Assembly breached the Constitution by failing to pass a resolution authorising Shettima to perform the functions of Acting President after Tinubu’s absence exceeded 21 days.
Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for a three-week working vacation in Europe. The Presidency subsequently announced on September 21 that his vacation had been extended by a few days.
The AAC is further seeking an order preventing Tinubu and future presidents from embarking on vacations without complying with the constitutional provisions governing the transfer of presidential functions.
Effiong said the suit was not based on the party’s preference for Shettima to exercise presidential powers but on its interpretation of the constitutional requirements. “The AAC is not doing this because it believes that Shettima is better than President Tinubu,” he said, adding that the party wants the court to determine whether the President’s action complied with the Constitution.
The party is also asking the court to direct the relevant authorities to comply with Section 145 whenever the President is unable to discharge the functions of his office.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
