By Gloria Drealomalicha
The Akwa Ibom State Government has deleted a social media post describing Senate President Godswill Akpabio as the “Acting President of Nigeria” during his visit to Uyo on Tuesday.
The controversial description appeared on the state government’s official Facebook livestream of the reception for Ibom Air’s newly acquired Airbus A220-300 at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo.
The post initially described Akpabio as the “Acting President of Nigeria” and identified him as President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly.
It was later edited, with the reference to “Acting President” removed.
The development comes as President Bola Tinubu is currently on a three-week annual leave in Europe, while Vice President Kashim Shettima had travelled to Angola to represent him at an African Union summit.
The Presidency announced on August 30 that Tinubu had departed Abuja for Europe, with London as his first destination. Shettima, meanwhile, left Nigeria on August 29 for Luanda to attend the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. He returned to Abuja on Monday.
The controversy over Akpabio’s status has also generated reactions among some residents of Akwa Ibom on social media, with some users referring to him as Nigeria’s “acting president”.
One Facebook user, Ima Utip, wrote: “Thank God our Senator Godswill Akpabio is the acting president…let’s build Ibom Deep Seaport.”
What the Constitution says
The Nigerian Constitution does not automatically make the Senate President acting president whenever both the president and vice president are temporarily outside the country.
Section 145 provides that when the president proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform the functions of his office, he is expected to transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Presidency had not, as of Tuesday evening, publicly confirmed whether Tinubu transmitted such a declaration before leaving Nigeria.
Section 145 also provides for the vice president to discharge the president’s functions during such a temporary period, rather than the Senate President.
Section 146, meanwhile, provides circumstances under which the Senate President may assume the office of president, but this relates to a vacancy in the offices of both the president and vice president, rather than their temporary absence from the country.
Against this background, the description of Akpabio as “Acting President” by the Akwa Ibom Government appeared inconsistent with the constitutional provisions governing temporary presidential absence.
Why Akpabio was in Uyo
Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, was in the state for the official reception of Ibom Air’s latest aircraft as part of activities marking the state’s 39th anniversary.
The Airbus A220-300, registered 5N-CDC, was formally handed over to Ibom Air at Airbus’ final assembly facility in Mirabel, Canada, before its arrival in Uyo.
The aircraft is one of 10 ordered under the administration of former Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The state’s anniversary programme also includes the commissioning of 39 projects across Akwa Ibom, with Tinubu expected to visit the state to commission some of them.
Akpabio remains one of the most prominent political figures to have emerged from Akwa Ibom. He served as governor between 2007 and 2015 before representing Akwa Ibom North-West in the Senate and eventually becoming Senate President.
Govt blames social media handler
When contacted, Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, initially denied that the controversial description had been posted by the state government.
However, after being informed that a screenshot of the original post was available, Umanah said the wording may have resulted from an error by the person handling the government’s social media account.
“I don’t know. Maybe somebody made a mistake. There’s nothing like that (acting president) in the country,” he said.
Asked whether the description reflected the official position of the state government, the commissioner said it did not.
“Nobody authorised that (reference) here. Maybe the people typing may have made a mistake, but that cannot be the position of the state government,” Umanah added.
The deletion of the original post has since drawn attention to the circumstances surrounding its publication and whether it was simply a social media error or reflected a misunderstanding of the constitutional arrangements governing presidential authority during a temporary absence.
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