President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has left Nigeria for a three-week vacation in Europe at a politically sensitive moment, with campaigning for the 2027 presidential election already underway and opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar raising fresh questions about the President\u2019s age and health.<\/p>\n
Tinubu departed Abuja on Sunday, August 30, 2026, to begin what the Presidency described as a three-week annual leave. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President\u2019s first destination is London, United Kingdom. He is expected to return to Nigeria after the break to participate in campaign activities ahead of the January 2027 presidential election.<\/p>\n
The vacation comes less than two weeks after the commencement of the official campaign period for the presidential and National Assembly elections. INEC’s current timetable places those elections on January 16, 2027, with campaigns for the contests beginning on August 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Presidency says Tinubu needs to \u201crefuel\u201d
\nPresidential Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, explained on Sunday that the President’s decision to take the break followed several months of intensive involvement in national affairs.<\/p>\n
Dare said Tinubu had spent the previous six to seven months dealing with major issues relating to the economy, security and governance. With political activities now entering an intense phase, he said the President needed time to rest and regain strength before the months of campaigning ahead.<\/p>\n
According to Dare, the President would not be completely detached from government while abroad. He is expected to remain in contact with officials and receive briefings from ministers, service chiefs and other senior government figures on important national matters.<\/p>\n
The Presidency has therefore characterised the trip as a working vacation rather than a complete withdrawal from official responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Atiku says Tinubu is sick<\/strong><\/p>\n The President’s health has, however, become a new point of political controversy following comments by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Friday.<\/p>\n In interviews with the BBC released on August 28, Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), said he was healthy and strong and contrasted his condition with that of Tinubu.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a president who is 90 years old now and who is sick. I am healthy; I am strong. So why would I not make my services available to my fellow countrymen?\u201d Atiku said, according to reports of the interview.<\/p>\n Atiku also claimed that Tinubu is 90 years old, despite official records identifying the President as 74. He said he had evidence to support his age allegation and that he would present it in court.<\/p>\n The age claim has been challenged publicly. Tinubu’s official birthday message from the State House in March 2026 identified the occasion as his 74th birthday. The State House’s records are consistent with Tinubu being born in 1952.<\/p>\n It is important to distinguish between the two issues:\u00a0Atiku’s statement that Tinubu is sick is an allegation made by a political opponent, and the reports reviewed do not provide independent medical evidence establishing that the President is ill.\u00a0The Presidency’s stated explanation for the trip is that Tinubu is taking annual leave to rest and \u201crefuel\u201d after an extended period of official duties.<\/p>\n Tinubu’s departure comes as the 2027 contest begins to take shape.<\/p>\n The President is seeking another term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, while Atiku is preparing to challenge him under the ADC. With the presidential campaign period already open, the President’s decision to spend three weeks outside Nigeria is likely to attract considerable political attention.<\/p>\n INEC has fixed January 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly elections, followed by the governorship and State House of Assembly elections on February 6.<\/p>\n The timing also means Tinubu is taking his break at the beginning of what is expected to be an increasingly intense electoral period. His media advisers have indicated that he intends to return to Nigeria after the vacation and join the campaign.<\/p>\n The Presidency has sought to reassure Nigerians that Tinubu’s absence will not create a vacuum in the administration of government.<\/p>\n Dare said the President would continue to receive information from ministers, service chiefs and other officials responsible for critical areas of government. This means that although Tinubu will be physically outside the country, the Presidency says he will continue to monitor developments and make decisions where necessary.<\/p>\n The President’s vacation follows a similar break taken recently by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who returned to official duties in August after an approved period of leave. Shettima subsequently represented Tinubu at an African Union meeting in Luanda.<\/p>\n Health questions likely to remain part of 2027 debate<\/strong><\/p>\n Atiku’s remarks have introduced another potentially significant issue into the emerging presidential campaign.<\/p>\n Questions about the age and health of Nigerian presidents have historically attracted considerable public interest, particularly because of the demanding nature of the office. Atiku’s decision to make Tinubu’s health part of his argument for seeking the presidency ensures that the issue is likely to receive further political attention as the election approaches.<\/p>\n For now, however, the available evidence establishes that Tinubu has embarked on an officially announced three-week leave and that the Presidency says he will continue to receive briefings while abroad. Atiku’s assertion that the President is sick remains\u00a0an unverified political claim rather than a confirmed medical finding.<\/p>\n Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria at the end of the three-week working vacation and resume his political activities as the 2027 presidential campaign gathers momentum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has left Nigeria for a three-week vacation in Europe at a politically sensitive moment, with campaigning for the 2027 presidential election already underway and opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar raising fresh questions about the President\u2019s age and health. Tinubu departed Abuja on Sunday, August 30, 2026, to begin what the Presidency described […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[55,2054,8618,56],"class_list":["post-100041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-atiku","tag-leave","tag-sick","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100042,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100041\/revisions\/100042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}