Akwa Ibom Gov’t sparks controversy after describing Akpabio as ‘Acting President’

The Akwa Ibom State Government has sparked controversy after describing Senate President Godswill Akpabio as the “Acting President of Nigeria” in an official social media post during an event in Uyo.

The description appeared on the state government’s official Facebook page on Tuesday as it livestreamed the reception of Ibom Air’s newly acquired Airbus A220-300 aircraft at the Victor Attah International Airport.

The original post announced Akpabio’s arrival for the event and described him as “Arrival of the Acting President of Nigeria, Sen. Dr Godswill Akpabio, GCON, President of the Senate, Chairman of the National Assembly…”

The post was later edited, with the reference to Akpabio as acting president removed.

The event was part of activities marking the 39th anniversary of the creation of Akwa Ibom State.

The development came amid the absence of both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima from the country.

Tinubu departed Abuja on August 30 for his annual vacation in Europe, with London announced as his first destination. The Presidency said he would return after the break and resume official engagements.

Shettima, meanwhile, 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. He returned to Abuja on Monday after completing the assignment.

The absence of the two highest-ranking executive officials has generated public discussion, with some residents of Akwa Ibom also referring to Akpabio as Nigeria’s acting president on social media.

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 1999 Constitution, as amended, does not automatically make the President of the Senate the acting president when the President and Vice-President are temporarily outside the country.

Section 145 provides for the President to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives when proceeding on vacation or otherwise unable to perform the functions of office.

Under the constitutional arrangement, the Vice-President ordinarily performs the functions of the President during a temporary absence, subject to the relevant constitutional procedure.

Section 146 addresses a different circumstance. It provides for the President of the Senate to assume the office of President where the offices of both President and Vice-President become vacant.

The provision concerns a vacancy in both offices and does not apply simply because the President and Vice-President are temporarily outside the country.

Consequently, the Akwa Ibom government’s description of Akpabio as “Acting President of Nigeria” does not, on its face, correspond with the constitutional provision governing temporary presidential absence.

However, the state government subsequently removed the description from its official Facebook post.

When contacted by Premium Times on Tuesday night, the state Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, initially denied that the government had referred to Akpabio as acting president.

After being informed that a screenshot of the original post was available, Umanah suggested that the description may have been an error by the person responsible for managing 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 why the description appeared on the government’s official platform, the commissioner maintained that it was not an authorised position of the state government.

“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 incident has nevertheless drawn attention to the constitutional procedure governing presidential absence and the distinct circumstances under which the Senate President can assume the presidency.

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