Tinubu Reaches Paris as His Leave Runs Into the Campaign
NIGERIA · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —Where he is President Bola Tinubu arrived in Paris on Sunday 13 September 2026, continuing a three-week working leave that began in London.
- —When it started He left Abuja on 30 August 2026.
- —The timing Presidential campaigning formally opened on 19 August, eleven days before he flew out.
- —The election Nigeria votes for president and the National Assembly on Saturday 16 January 2027.
- —The cost N37.64 billion (about US$28 million) on presidential travel between June 2023 and April 2026, across 52 trips.
- —The pattern France is his most-visited country, followed by the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
A three-week leave that starts after the campaign opens and ends four months before the vote is a scheduling decision, not an absence.
President Bola Tinubu arrived in Paris on Sunday, moving the second half of a three-week working leave to the city he has visited more than any other, four months before Nigerians vote.
The Trip
Tinubu departed Abuja on 30 August 2026 for a three-week annual working leave, with London as the first stop, in an arrangement announced by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy.
He arrived in Paris on Sunday 13 September 2026 and was received by Nigeria’s ambassador to France, Emmanuel Ayodele Oke, in a video posted to the presidency’s official account.
Three weeks from 30 August points to a return around 20 September. The presidency says he will resume official duties that weekend without naming a date.
The Election Is the Context
Presidential campaigning formally opened on 19 August 2026, eleven days before Tinubu flew out. Nigeria votes for president and the National Assembly on Saturday 16 January 2027, with governorship elections on 6 February, under the revised timetable the electoral commission announced on 26 February 2026.
The leave began roughly a week after his party published its presidential campaign council list, naming Tinubu chairman and Vice-President Kashim Shettima vice-chairman. Onanuga said the president would return to join preparations for the January poll.
That sequence is what makes the trip newsworthy rather than routine. A leave taken during a campaign is a statement about how contested the campaign is thought to be.
The Same Cities, Three Years On
Paris was the destination of his first foreign trip as president. He flew out on 22 June 2023 for the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact at the Palais Brongniart, then continued to London on 24 June, reaching Lagos on 27 June and Abuja on 2 July.
This is the same London and Paris sequence, run in reverse. France is his most-visited country as president, followed by the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
What the Travel Has Cost
Presidential travel and related costs came to N37.64 billion, about US$28 million, between June 2023 and April 2026, across 52 trips, according to figures compiled from the government spending platform GovSpend. This is his 52nd foreign trip since taking office.
That averages roughly N1.1 billion, about US$830,000, a month. The naira depreciated sharply across the period, so a single-rate conversion understates the dollar value of the earlier spending.
Annual figures run N9.18 billion in 2023, N25.26 billion in 2024 and N2.7 billion in 2025, with N6.14 billion budgeted for 2026.
How Much Time Abroad
A tally published on 31 May 2026, marking the administration’s third anniversary, put Tinubu and Vice-President Shettima’s combined time abroad at 344 days across more than 75 trips to 37 countries since 29 May 2023.
Tinubu alone accounted for 261 days and 51 trips, across at least 30 countries. Those are the figures for the administration to date rather than a claim about any single period.
What to Watch
The return date is the first thing. A president who resumes duties on 20 September has four months of campaign before the vote; one who extends has fewer.
The second is whether the travel becomes a campaign issue. Opposition figures have used the spending figures before, and a leave taken after the campaign opened gives them a sharper version of the same argument.
More: Africa news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tinubu?
He arrived in Paris on Sunday 13 September 2026, continuing a three-week working leave that began in London.
When did the leave start?
He left Abuja on 30 August 2026.
When does Nigeria vote?
Saturday 16 January 2027 for president and the National Assembly; 6 February for governorships.
What has presidential travel cost?
N37.64 billion, about US$28 million, between June 2023 and April 2026 across 52 trips.
When does he return?
Three weeks from 30 August points to around 20 September. The presidency has not named a date.
Sources: State House Nigeria, ThisDay, Vanguard, Pulse Nigeria, INEC, Business Insider Africa.
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