Sowore made the claim on Monday, September 28, while speaking to journalists at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the AAC was taking legal action over Tinubu’s prolonged absence from the country.
“I know where he is, he’s in the hospital. I guess when he is discharged, he will return,” Sowore said.
Sowore did not publicly provide evidence to substantiate the claim about the President’s alleged hospitalisation.
Sowore also announced that the AAC had resolved to sue Tinubu and seek action by the National Assembly over the President’s extended stay outside Nigeria.
“We’ve taken a position in our party to sue him for the National Assembly to commence his impeachment,” he said.
The AAC subsequently filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging Tinubu’s failure, according to the party, to transmit the written declaration contemplated under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution before proceeding on vacation.
The suit also names Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas and the National Assembly as defendants.
Among other things, the party is asking the court to determine whether the National Assembly was required to act after Tinubu’s absence exceeded 21 days and whether the constitutional procedure concerning the Vice President’s assumption of presidential functions was followed.
Sowore’s claim comes against the backdrop of the Presidency’s repeated position that Tinubu is healthy and has been away on a working vacation.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said on September 27 that Tinubu was “hale and hearty” and had continued working during his stay abroad.
Onanuga said the President had held investment-related meetings in France and argued that modern communications allowed him to perform his duties without being physically present in Abuja.
The Presidency also said Tinubu was expected to return to Nigeria this week.
The two accounts therefore differ sharply: Sowore claims the President is receiving hospital treatment, while the Presidency says Tinubu is on a working vacation and remains engaged in official duties.
The controversy has also generated a legal debate over Section 145 of the Constitution.
The AAC argues that Tinubu should have transmitted a written declaration to the Senate President and Speaker of the House before proceeding on vacation and that the National Assembly should have taken action after the absence extended beyond 21 days.
The court has yet to determine the constitutional questions raised by the party.
Sowore’s latest comments therefore combine an unverified claim about Tinubu’s whereabouts with a formal legal challenge by his political party over the President’s extended absence.
Until the court rules on the constitutional issues, and unless independent evidence emerges concerning the hospitalisation allegation, the claims about Tinubu being in hospital remain allegations made by Sowore rather than established facts.
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