Tinubu Returns After 30 Days Abroad: Where He Went, What Was Said, and What Comes Next.

Tinubu Returns After 30 Days Abroad: Where He Went, What Was Said, and What Comes Next.

President Bola Tinubu arrived in Lagos at about 6:22pm on Tuesday, September 29, ending a 30-day working vacation in Europe that ran about nine days longer than first announced. Nigerian Air Force One landed at the Presidential Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

“I Enjoyed Myself”: The President Speaks

Speaking to journalists on arrival, President Tinubu said he was “healthy, sound, ready to go.” Asked about his time abroad, he said simply: “I enjoyed myself.” Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, had earlier described him as “hale and hearty”.

Four Weeks, Two Cities

He left Abuja on August 30 for London, spent about a week there, then moved to Paris. The Presidency first announced a three-week working vacation. On September 21, it said the stay was extended “by a few days” and that he would return at the weekend, but he came back on Tuesday.

The Presidency has not said why the trip was extended. It maintains that he stayed in touch with home and kept directing government throughout.

Dinner With Macron and Talks With Business Leaders

In Paris, he had a private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, where the Presidency says they discussed Nigeria–France relations and closer cooperation.

He also met Vincent Bolloré of the Bolloré Group about investment in Nigeria’s film, entertainment and fibre-optic infrastructure.

The Presidency has not announced any signed agreement from either meeting.

On September 24, he was in Paris when the Ogun State Government signed a memorandum of understanding with DP World for a deep sea port and special economic zone valued at over $7 billion. That deal belongs to Ogun State, not the Federal Government.

From abroad, the Presidency says, he also ordered an independent panel to investigate the deaths of 37 illegal miners in Minna, Niger State, who were held by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Home Again, With a Full Diary

The Presidency says he flew into Lagos first to honour the late MKO Abiola, winner of the annulled 1993 presidential election. On Thursday, October 1, Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, he is expected at the national premiere of MKO, a documentary on Abiola’s life, at the Wole Soyinka National Theatre.

Political meetings in Lagos will follow as preparations for the 2027 elections continue, before he heads back to Abuja.

Questions the Opposition Wants Answered

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), pointed to Section 145 of the Constitution. It says a President going on vacation should send a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, so the Vice-President can act in his place.

Mr Abubakar asked whether one was sent once the first 21 days had passed. No such declaration has been made public.

On September 28, the African Action Congress (AAC) took the matter to the Federal High Court in Abuja.

It wants a ruling that a President must send the declaration before going on vacation. Its defendants are the President, the Attorney-General and the National Assembly.

The ADC also criticised the fact that both leaders were out of the country at once, with Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. It questioned the role of Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume in representing the President at some events.

Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, said the absence raised questions about leadership and who holds presidential authority. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), criticised the choice of a European vacation and asked why it could not be spent in Nigeria.

The Presidency Responds 

Mr Onanuga called the trip a working vacation and argued that in the digital age a President need not be in Abuja to govern, pointing to the investor meetings in France. The Presidency said the absence from the UNGA was part of annual leave, that Mr Shettima carried the full presidential mandate in New York, and that Mr Abubakar’s claims were baseless and irresponsible.