President Bola Tinubu on Thursday began a 10-day vacation as part of his 2025 annual leave, the Presidency has announced.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President is expected to split the vacation between France and the United Kingdom before returning to Nigeria.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja today, September 4, to commence a working vacation in Europe. The vacation will last for 10 working days, during which he will be in France and the UK before returning to the country,” Onanuga stated.
The announcement, however, did not indicate whether Tinubu had written to the National Assembly to formally notify lawmakers, as required by Section 145(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers Vice President Kashim Shettima to act in his absence. Both chambers are currently on recess.
Tinubu took a similar “working vacation” in October 2024, spending over two weeks in France and the UK without formally handing over to his deputy.
Since assuming office in May 2023, Tinubu has been one of Nigeria’s most travelled presidents. Records show that in his first 17 months, he and Vice President Shettima made 41 trips to 26 countries, spending about 180 days outside the country. Tinubu alone accounted for 124 of those days, visiting 16 countries on 29 occasions.
His most recent foreign outing was in Brazil in August 2025, where he met President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both leaders signed agreements covering trade, aviation, energy, and security cooperation, including plans to revive Petrobras’ operations in Nigeria and establish a Lagos–São Paulo direct flight.
Other trips in 2025 included attending the Africa Heads of State Energy Summit in Tanzania, Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration in Rome, state visits to Saint Lucia and Brazil, as well as the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Japan.
Critics, however, argue that while the trips have raised Nigeria’s international profile, they have not translated into tangible economic benefits for citizens grappling with inflation, insecurity, and worsening living conditions.
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