President Buhari handed over to me- Osinbajo clarifies

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo last night via his twitter handle, addressed the speculations making the rounds that President Buhari did not properly hand over power to him. Responding to a twitter user who asked why President Buhari did not hand over the affiars of the country to him, Osinbajo said President Buhari did transfer power to him and that he had sent a letter to the Senate in compliance with S.145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). That section of the constitution reads:

“Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”

There have been an uproar over the non-reference of Osinbajo as acting president in the letter President Buhari sent to the senate notifying them of his trip to the UK for his medical follow-up. President Buhari had in the letter stated that he was handing over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who would coordinate the activities of government in his absence. Some Nigerians felt this was an oversight and that Osinbajo should have been addressed in the letter as Acting President. 

Osinbajo has however deleted his tweet.