When you make another player a leader, there is a confirmation pop-up. If you press "Yes" (intentionally or not), this is considered as your personal decision.
If the Leader does not appear in the game for a long time or leaves the gang, then his/her position will be transferred to the Captain who entered the game most recently.
If there are no Captains in the gang, or the Сaptains are also not active, then the role of the Leader will be transferred to the member who entered the game most recently.
Please note, that we do not return gang leader rights that were lost by mistake or due to inactivity. We think it's unfair for the developers to interfere in the in-game life of our players.
Unfortunately, we cannot make another player the leader; you should ask this player or wait for it to change automatically until they become inactive.