Tinubu Not Mandated to Govern Nigeria from Abuja—Presidency

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The presidency on Sunday night disclosed that there is no law that mandates President Bola Tinubu to perform his functions from the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

On August 30, 2026, Mr Tinubu left the shores of the country for a three-week vacation in Europe. The first few days were spent in London, the United Kingdom, before moving to France.

He was earlier expected to resume duties last Monday, but his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, announced that the working leave had been extended and that the President was due to return to Nigeria last weekend.

However, he was not seen in the country, and last night, another statement was released, revealing that he should be in Nigeria later this week.

In the statement, the presidency said Mr Tinubu is hale and hearty, ostensibly in reaction to speculations that the President was receiving medical attention in Paris, the French capital.

The presidency noted that “In this digital age, he (Mr Tinubu) does not need to be physically present in Abuja to do the work for which he was elected in 2023.”

“We have seen that he has indeed been working, meeting investors in France, most recently facilitating a $7 billion deep-sea port in Ogun Waterside, an initiative of the Ogun State Government,” another part of the statement noted.

While reacting to his absence at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the presidency stressed that, “Two other important African leaders were not in New York for the UNGA: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Ramaphosa booked himself off public engagements.

“Johannesburg and Pretoria made no uproar over Ramaphosa’s absence at UNGA. And Egypt did not erupt that Sisi did not go to New York. The Nigerian President announced he was taking his annual vacation and delegated attendance to his able and dependable Vice President.”

The statement took a jab at the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 general election, Mr Peter Obi, for pretending “to be unaware of President Tinubu’s whereabouts and (asking) the puerile question his followers are asking on X.”

“President Tinubu will return home this week to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary and honour MKO Abiola, the martyr of the democracy we enjoy today, by attending the premiere of a movie in MKO’s memory in Lagos,” the statement declared.