Abuja, Sunday 27 September 2026
President Bola Tinubu has postponed his planned return to Nigeria after a late change of travel plans, sources familiar with his itinerary have said.
The president had been expected back in the country this weekend at the end of a working vacation in Europe. That timetable has now been revised. He is likely to arrive in Lagos on Tuesday 29 September.
He left Nigeria on 30 August for London at the start of what the presidency described as a three week working vacation, taken as part of his annual leave. After about a week in the United Kingdom he travelled on to Paris. While in France he held talks with President Emmanuel Macron and with the businessman Vincent Bolloré.
On 21 September the presidency said Mr Tinubu had extended his stay abroad by a few days and would return at the weekend. Presidential sources had later indicated that he would fly into Lagos on Sunday and remain there for up to a week before going on to Abuja.
That arrangement has been altered. Reports on Sunday morning said the new plan is for him to land at the presidential wing of Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, where Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is expected to receive him. He is then expected to stay in Lagos through Thursday 1 October, when Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Day, and to attend to official business in the state before travelling to Abuja the following weekend.
The reason for the latest change was not known on Sunday morning. There has been no public statement from the presidency confirming the new date.
Mr Tinubu has now been away for almost four weeks. The length of the absence, and the further delay in his return, has fuelled speculation about his health and about his ability to govern from abroad. Critics and some members of the public have asked whether a president can properly discharge the duties of office while remaining outside the country for so long. The presidency has not addressed those claims directly and has offered no medical explanation for the revised itinerary.
Officials have said he has remained in contact with staff at home and has continued to give directions on government business. Among the decisions attributed to him during the trip was an order for an independent panel to investigate the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in Minna after they were detained by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has represented him at some official events. Mr Shettima left Abuja on 20 September for New York to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly and to deliver Nigeria’s national statement. With the vice president abroad, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, has continued to stand in at functions at home.
The length of the president’s absence has also drawn political comment. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has asked who is exercising presidential authority after the original three weeks of leave elapsed. Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said there is no vacancy at Aso Rock and that Mr Tinubu remains in charge.
Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution provides for a president who is going on vacation to send a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after which the vice president may perform the president’s functions in an acting capacity. The presidency has maintained that Mr Tinubu has stayed engaged with the work of government throughout the trip.
If the revised itinerary holds, Tuesday’s arrival in Lagos will bring the European working vacation to a close just days before Independence Day. It may also test whether the speculation that has grown around his health and his grip on office recedes once he is back on Nigerian soil.
By John James
