Akwa Ibom State Government has triggered a fresh constitutional debate after describing Senate President Godswill Akpabio as Nigeria’s “Acting President” during an official event in Uyo.
The controversial description appeared on the state government’s official Facebook page on Tuesday as officials hosted Akpabio and other dignitaries at the Victor Attah International Airport.
The event was organised to welcome Ibom Air’s newly acquired Airbus A220-300 aircraft as part of activities marking the 39th anniversary of Akwa Ibom State.
In its initial post, the government announced Akpabio’s arrival with the title “Acting President of Nigeria,” alongside his position as President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly.
The wording quickly attracted attention, particularly because President Bola Tinubu is currently outside Nigeria on vacation.
Tinubu departed Abuja on August 30 for his annual break in Europe, with London announced as his first destination.
The Presidency has said he will return to Nigeria after the vacation and continue preparations for the 2027 elections.
Vice President Kashim Shettima was also away from the country until Monday.
Shettima had travelled to Luanda, Angola, on August 29 to represent Tinubu at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.
His return to Abuja on Monday meant both Nigeria’s President and Vice President had recently been outside the country, prompting renewed public discussion about who exercises presidential authority during such periods.
Some Akwa Ibom residents joined the conversation on social media.
One Facebook user, Ima Utip, described Akpabio as “the acting president” and called on him to support the development of the Ibom Deep Seaport.
However, Nigeria’s constitutional provisions do not make the Senate President acting president simply because the President and Vice President are abroad.
Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution provides a procedure for a President who is proceeding on vacation or is temporarily unable to perform official duties.
Under that arrangement, the President is expected to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Vice President is then positioned to perform the President’s functions during the period of temporary absence, subject to the constitutional requirements.
Section 146 addresses a separate circumstance.
It provides for the Senate President to assume the presidency when both the offices of President and Vice President become vacant.
That provision concerns an actual vacancy in both offices. It is different from a temporary situation in which the President and Vice President are outside the country.
Therefore, the Akwa Ibom government’s description of Akpabio as “Acting President of Nigeria” appears inconsistent with the constitutional process for temporary presidential absence.
The state government later edited its Facebook post and removed the reference to Akpabio as acting president.
Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, also distanced the government from the description when contacted about the matter.
Umanah initially denied that the state had officially referred to Akpabio as acting president.
After being told that a screenshot of the original post existed, he suggested that the wording could have been a mistake by the official responsible for managing the government’s social media account.
“I don’t know. Maybe somebody made a mistake. There’s nothing like that in the country,” Umanah said.
He further stressed that the controversial description did not represent the official position of the Akwa Ibom government.
“Nobody authorised that here. Maybe the people typing may have made a mistake, but that cannot be the position of the state government,” the commissioner added.