Abuja, 4 September 2025 – Nigerian President Bola Tinubu departed Abuja today for France, embarking on what his office has described as a 10-day annual vacation that will span both France and the United Kingdom. The President was seen off at the airport by a high-level delegation, including Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Minister of Finance Wale Edun, Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu, and several other senior officials.
The trip comes just seven days after President Tinubu’s return from a state visit to Brazil, highlighting the rapid pace of his international engagements. According to presidential aides, the vacation will serve as a period of reflection and strategic planning, with the President dividing his time between the two European nations before returning to Nigeria. This departure marks yet another addition to President Tinubu’s extensive travel itinerary since assuming office in May 2023, a pattern that has fuelled significant public debate.
Since taking office on 29 May 2023, President Tinubu has undertaken at least 36 publicly acknowledged foreign trips as of June 2025, with additional journeys reported in subsequent months bringing the total closer to 40 by September 2025. These trips have spanned multiple continents, including Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, often aimed at diplomatic summits, investment forums, and bilateral meetings. By mid-2025, he had visited at least 20 countries, with some destinations repeated multiple times.
Focusing on key destinations, President Tinubu has visited France at least eight times since May 2023, spending a reported 59 days there across these trips by April 2025, with further visits afterwards. Notable trips include attending the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris in June 2023, a private visit in September 2023, another private visit in January 2024, a working visit in August 2024, bilateral engagements in October 2024, a state visit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in November 2024, a private or working visit in February 2025, a two-week working visit to Paris in April 2025 described as his fifth or sixth trip to the country, and the current annual vacation commencing in France in September 2025.
The President has visited the United Kingdom at least six times by October 2024, with additional trips in 2025, including private and official engagements. Key instances include multiple private visits in 2023 and 2024 often for medical or personal reasons with exact dates not always disclosed, a meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in September 2024 to strengthen diplomatic ties following a trip to China, a two-week annual vacation in the UK in October 2024, an extended retreat in London in April 2025 following a working visit to France, and part of the ongoing annual vacation in September 2025 following time in France.
These figures are based on public records and may not include all private or unannounced travels.
President Tinubu’s travel schedule has become a flashpoint in Nigerian politics, drawing sharp criticism from opposition figures, civil society groups, and the public amid the country’s ongoing economic challenges, including inflation, insecurity, and fuel shortages. Critics argue that the trips represent absentee leadership at a time when domestic issues demand urgent attention, with each journey costing billions of naira in public funds—estimates suggest over N5.99 billion spent on presidential foreign travels between June 2023 and October 2024 alone. Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has been vocal, faulting specific trips like a planned 12-day visit to Japan and Brazil in August 2025 as ill-timed given worsening security and economic woes. The African Democratic Congress has similarly lambasted the alarming frequency of these excursions, claiming they yield no tangible gains despite the high costs. Public discourse on social media and in editorials often portrays the President as a globetrotter prioritising international diplomacy over national priorities, with some questioning the opacity of private visits, particularly to France and the UK.
In defence, the presidency maintains that these trips are essential for restoring Nigeria’s global standing and attracting foreign investment. Officials claim the engagements have secured over $50 billion in foreign direct investment commitments, bolstering economic reforms and international partnerships. President Tinubu himself has stated that his travels aim to regain Nigeria’s dignity on the world stage, emphasising outcomes from summits in countries like Saudi Arabia, India, and the UAE. In response to earlier backlash, the administration imposed a temporary ban on non-essential foreign trips by government officials starting 1 April 2024, though this has not quelled the debate.
As President Tinubu’s aircraft touches down in France, the controversy underscores a broader tension between global ambitions and domestic imperatives, with Nigerians watching closely for concrete benefits from these high-profile jaunts.
