Tinubu Departs Abuja for Europe on 10-Day Vacation

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday began a 10-day vacation as part of his 2025 annual leave, the Presidency announced.

According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President will spend the period 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, as part of his 2025 annual leave. The vacation will last 10 working days. He will spend the period between France and the UK and then return to the country,” Onanuga stated.

The statement did not, however, indicate whether Tinubu had formally notified the National Assembly in line with Section 145(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which requires a letter empowering Vice President Kashim Shettima to act in his absence. Both chambers are currently on recess.

This is not the first time Tinubu has taken a “working vacation” without a formal handover. In October 2024, he spent more than two weeks in France and the UK under similar circumstances.

Since taking office in May 2023, Tinubu has become one of Nigeria’s most travelled leaders. A report by PUNCH Online in October 2024 revealed that in his first 17 months in office, he and Vice President Shettima made 41 foreign trips across 26 countries, spending a combined 180 days abroad. Of these, Tinubu personally logged 124 days across 29 trips to 16 countries.

His latest foreign engagement was in Brazil in August 2025, where he met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both countries signed agreements covering trade, aviation, energy, and security, including plans to revive Petrobras’ operations in Nigeria and establish a Lagos–São Paulo direct air route.

Tinubu has also travelled to the United States, China, South Africa, Germany, Tanzania, the UAE, and Japan, attending summits, state visits, and diplomatic meetings aimed at securing investment and strengthening bilateral ties.

Critics, however, argue that despite these extensive trips, Nigerians continue to face worsening economic hardship, high inflation, insecurity, and falling living standards.