President Bola Ahmed Tinubu departed Abuja on Sunday, August 30, 2026, bound for Europe to begin a three-week period of annual leave, according to a statement from the Presidency.
The president’s special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the departure in a brief statement, noting that London would be Tinubu’s first stop on the trip.
The statement did not disclose further details of the itinerary, though it was described as a working vacation, meaning the president is expected to continue carrying out official duties while abroad.
The statement did not specify which other European countries the president plans to visit, nor did it detail any working engagements lined up for his time in London.
Officials say the timing is significant. Onanuga indicated Tinubu is expected to return home once the vacation concludes so he can join the intensifying campaign for the January 2027 election.
His departure comes just two weeks after Nigeria’s electoral commission formally opened the campaign period for the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, placing his return squarely within a pivotal stretch of the electoral calendar.
The trip also follows closely on the heels of a separate break taken by his deputy. Vice President Kashim Shettima had just resumed official duties on August 18 after a 12-day leave, which the Presidency said was intended for study, reflection, and intellectual renewal, during which he stood in for Tinubu at the African Union summit in Angola.
This is far from Tinubu’s first extended absence since taking office. The Nigerian leader has taken at least eleven official and unofficial leaves or breaks since assuming the presidency on May 29, 2023, though only five have been formally communicated as official annual leave.
His travels abroad date back to his first break, between June 20 and 27, 2023, when he attended the New Global Financing Pact summit in Paris before a short private visit to London.
More recently, he took a 10-day working vacation to France and the UK beginning September 4, 2025, cutting it short to return to Abuja on September 16, and departed for Europe again on December 28, 2025, before attending the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, returning to Nigeria on January 17, 2026.
With Tinubu, 74, seeking a second term in office, his allies in the All Progressives Congress will be watching closely for his return, as the president’s post-vacation schedule is expected to be dominated by campaign activity in the run-up to the January polls.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
President Tinubu’s three-week European vacation, his fifth official annual leave since taking office, comes at a politically loaded moment: it begins just two weeks after INEC opened campaigning for the January 2027 election, meaning his return will drop him straight into the thick of the electioneering season.
While officials call it a “working vacation,” the timing underscores how closely his personal schedule is now intertwined with his re-election bid.
