By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Senate has rejected calls for the National Assembly to reconvene over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s continued stay outside Nigeria, with its spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, saying there is no basis for such a move.
Adaramodu, who chairs the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs and represents Ekiti South Senatorial District, made the position known in an interview with newsmen.
“There is no reason for such a call,” he said when asked whether the Senate should immediately reconvene over the President’s absence.
The senator said the National Assembly would not be drawn into political arguments surrounding the President’s stay abroad, stressing that the legislature was primarily a lawmaking institution.
His comments followed a call by serving federal lawmakers under the aegis of Save Democracy for the National Assembly to urgently reconvene over what they described as constitutional concerns arising from Tinubu’s continued absence from the country.
The lawmakers had raised questions about the alleged non-transmission of a written declaration by the President under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The section requires a President proceeding on vacation to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The group also argued that the provisions of Section 145(2), including the 21-day period mentioned in the Constitution, should be complied with.
The controversy followed the Presidency’s announcement that Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for a three-week vacation and later extended his stay abroad by several days.
However, Adaramodu said the issue had already been addressed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who recently dismissed suggestions of a presidential vacancy.
Akpabio had said in Akwa Ibom State while inaugurating road projects executed by Governor Umo Eno that Tinubu remained in charge of the country despite being abroad.
“I am not the acting president, because the president is still in power. The president is on a working leave. So, there’s no absence in Aso Rock,” Akpabio said.
He added that the President could continue to conduct government business remotely through directives and other official communications.
Adaramodu said the President remained in regular contact and questioned why the National Assembly should respond to every statement made by politicians and civil society organisations.
“Some of these civil society organisations, they are citing Section 145, where some people are playing politics. The National Assembly is not a political platform. It’s a lawmaking platform,” he said.
He added, “It is the business of politicians to talk.”
On whether a political leader’s physical location determined his ability to perform constitutional duties, Adaramodu said the issue should be considered from the standpoint of functionality rather than geography.
“It is not geography; it is functionality,” he said. “It is your functionality that dictates whether you are performing your duties or you are not performing your duties. It’s not your GPS.”
Meanwhile, Adaramodu confirmed that the Senate would resume legislative activities on September 29.
He said the October 1 Independence Day public holiday would not prevent lawmakers from returning to legislative business, noting that the National Assembly routinely adjusts its activities around public holidays.
The senator also drew attention to vacation periods observed by other arms of government, particularly the judiciary.
“They went on holidays in July, and they resumed in September. Nobody is talking about it. That is the judiciary,” he said.
Adaramodu acknowledged that lawmakers, as elected representatives, would naturally attract public scrutiny.
“We are representatives of the people,” he said. “They have the right to be interested in our affairs.”
He, however, maintained that the Senate had legislative responsibilities to attend to and would not be distracted by political statements or what he described as insinuations from politicians.
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