ABUJA, Nigeria – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has concluded his four-week European working vacation and departed Paris, France, for his return journey to Nigeria, with the presidential aircraft scheduled to touch down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday evening, the State House announced in Abuja on Tuesday afternoon, September 29, 2026.
The Commander-in-Chief chose to fly directly to the nation’s commercial center rather than the Federal Capital Territory to lead commemorative events marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary on Thursday, October 1, and to pay tribute to the legacy of the martyr of Nigeria’s democratic struggle, the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, GCFR.
Okay News reports that in an official statement issued in Abuja by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President is scheduled to attend the theatrical premiere of a biographical feature film produced in honor of Abiola, the winner of the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election, at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts in Iganmu, Lagos.
During his stay in Lagos, President Tinubu will also convene a series of high-level strategic political consultations over several days with key party leaders, state governors, and influential associates across the ruling All Progressives Congress to harmonize regional party structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The President’s homeward flight brings to a close an overseas working leave that commenced on August 30, when he departed Abuja for London, United Kingdom, where he spent one week before proceeding to Paris for a series of high-profile diplomatic and bilateral economic engagements.
While in the French capital, President Tinubu held a private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss regional stability and bilateral economic partnerships, followed by consultative meetings with leading European corporate executives, including Vincent Bolloré of the Bolloré Group, whose media and communications portfolio comprises Canal+, MultiChoice, and Universal Music Group.
On Monday evening, the Nigerian leader was also hosted to a private dinner in Paris by the Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc and Geregu Power Plc, Femi Otedola, who publicly commended the President’s monetary and fiscal reforms, noting that the administration’s policies have bolstered foreign exchange liquidity and lifted Nigeria’s external reserves to approximately $55 billion.
The foreign trip also yielded a multi-billion-dollar maritime transaction, with President Tinubu witnessing the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ogun State Government and global logistics operator DP World MEA FZE for the development of the Gateway Deep Seaport and a 10,000-hectare Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, backed by a planned $7 billion private investment envelope.
The State House confirmed that President Tinubu will return to the Presidential Villa in Abuja upon the conclusion of his political and commemorative engagements in Lagos.
