ABUJA, Nigeria – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has extended his ongoing working vacation overseas by a few days and is now scheduled to return to Nigeria at the weekend, the Presidency announced in an official executive dispatch issued in Abuja on Monday, September 21, 2026.
The President initially departed the nation’s capital on August 30, 2026, for London to commence the annual working recess, before proceeding to Paris, France, after a week in the United Kingdom to engage in bilateral and economic investment discussions.
Okay News reports that in an official statement signed on Monday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the State House disclosed that while in Paris, President Tinubu held strategic meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and prominent French industrialist Vincent Bolloré, whose media and entertainment conglomerate controls Canal+, MultiChoice, and Universal Music Group.
The Presidency emphasized that throughout his time abroad, President Tinubu has maintained direct oversight of national governance, continually directing the affairs of state, including his recent executive directive mandating the establishment of an independent panel of inquiry to investigate the custodial deaths of 37 artisanal miners in Minna following their detention by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Addressing the administrative delegation of presidential responsibilities, the State House noted that while Vice President Kashim Shettima departed Abuja on Sunday, September 20, to represent the President and deliver Nigeria’s national statement at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, domestic state representation will be sustained through the cabinet secretariat.
The Presidency affirmed that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who has been standing in for the President at scheduled official functions across the country, will continue to represent the Commander-in-Chief until his return.
On the political front, the administration confirmed that the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abubakar Yari, has been actively leading senior party chieftains on structured nationwide consultations with foremost traditional rulers to foster communal harmony and national stability.
The State House strongly pushed back against critical remarks regarding the President’s schedule, characterizing insinuations circulated by former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and a United States-based lobbying firm over President Tinubu’s non-attendance at the United Nations General Assembly as irresponsible and unfounded.
Reiterating Nigeria’s authoritative participation at the global summit, the Presidency affirmed that Vice President Shettima carries the full diplomatic mandate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to present the national statement and advance the nation’s foreign policy priorities before world leaders in New York.
