Tinubu begins three-week Europe holiday ahead of 2027 campaign

August 31, 2026 12:44 am

Stephen Angbulu and Hussaini Ibrahim

President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, departed Abuja for Europe to begin a three-week holiday as part of his annual leave.

The President, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Sunday, will make his first stop in London, United Kingdom.

Tinubu “is expected to return home after the working vacation to join the campaign for the January 2027 general election.”

The President’s departure comes barely two days after he directed a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, federal agencies and ministries, following the discovery of fictitious government agencies operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

It also comes a week after the release of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council list, which named him and Vice President Kashim Shettima as chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

Speaking shortly before the President’s departure on Sunday, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, said the three-week holiday was well deserved following months of intense engagement on state matters.

Dare, who spoke to journalists at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, said, “The president is proceeding on a well-deserved leave, and I think that leave is well deserved.

“The President has had several months- six, seven months- of being engaged with state matters.

“We’ve seen monumental changes, monumental decisions taken with our security, with our economy, and so many other things as pertains to the running of the affairs of this country,” Dare said.

He noted the timing of the leave against the backdrop of the country’s newly launched campaign season, stressing that governance would not pause despite the President’s time away.

He said, “At this point, the campaign season has just started. We have four or five months of serious campaigning.

“Of course, governance will continue, and at this point, it’s important that the President also refuels.”

Dare assured Nigerians that the President would remain fully briefed and involved in key national decisions throughout the vacation.

“Even though he’s going on leave, we know that he’ll be engaged with state matters daily.

“He will receive briefings from his ministers, from the service chiefs, as the case may be, and from every other person who is handling very key decisions in our country,” he said.

The President last proceeded on leave on December 28, 2025, through January 2026.

He spent about 10 days in France as part of a year-end holiday before proceeding to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit from January 12-17 and then Turkey for a state visit from January 26-31.

Vice President Shettima recently embarked on a two-week official leave on August 6, 2026, marking his first vacation since taking office.

He returned to the country from his two-week leave, resuming two days ahead of his officially scheduled return date of August 20, 2026.

Atiku faults Tinubu

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, criticised Tinubu over his three-week vacation in Europe amid worsening economic hardship and insecurity in the country.

Atiku argued that although Nigeria was not facing a constitutional vacuum, the country was experiencing what he described as a “disturbing vacuum of political leadership.”

In a statement released on Sunday on his verified X account, he questioned the timing of Tinubu’s trip against the backdrop of the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians.

Atiku said the President’s decision to travel was particularly difficult to understand because Vice President Kashim Shettima was also outside the country on official duty.

“Leadership is not merely the constitutional right to occupy an office; it is the judgment to know when your country needs you at home,” he stated.

He listed rising petrol prices, food hardship, increased transport fares and persistent insecurity among the challenges facing Nigerians, arguing that the circumstances demanded greater attention from the President.

“Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury. Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week,” Atiku said.

He maintained that his criticism was not based on opposition to presidential vacations or foreign travel, noting that he had travelled and lived abroad himself.

“I have travelled, lived and spent time abroad, and I have never pretended otherwise. But there is a fundamental difference between the travels of a private citizen and the responsibility of the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Atiku likened Tinubu’s vacation to a situation where a father leaves home while his family faces an emergency, stressing that leadership required leaders to recognise moments when their presence was most needed.

“A father may travel when all is well. But when his roof is burning, and his family is trapped inside, he does not pick up his suitcase and head for the airport,” he stated.

The former Vice President accused the President of being detached from the hardship confronting Nigerians, saying the country’s economic situation required urgent intervention rather than an extended absence from the country.

“That is the issue here. It is not that a President must never rest or travel. It is that Nigeria is burning, and the President has chosen a boarding pass over the fire extinguisher,” Atiku said.

He further claimed that millions of Nigerians were struggling to afford basic transportation while the President continued to travel, using the contrast to question the administration’s sensitivity to the plight of citizens.

“Millions of Nigerians are being grounded by hardship while their President is airborne. The people can barely afford to move, but the President keeps moving,” he stated.

Atiku also accused the administration of failing to adequately appreciate the consequences of its policies on ordinary Nigerians, declaring that a government disconnected from the suffering of its citizens would struggle to address their problems.

“A government that cannot feel the pain it inflicts will never summon the will to end it,” he said.

The ADC presidential candidate concluded by contrasting his political promise with the Tinubu administration, declaring, “Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again.”

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