ABUJA, Nigeria – The Presidency has dismissed lingering speculation concerning the health and location of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, declaring that the Commander-in-Chief is hale, hearty, and actively running state affairs while on an authorized annual working vacation in Europe, the State House announced in Abuja on Sunday night, September 27, 2026.
The clarification issued by the executive branch serves as a direct rebuttal to criticisms voiced earlier on Sunday by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Gregory Obi, who publicly questioned why Nigeria’s head of state did not attend the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in person.
Okay News reports that in an official statement released in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, maintained that the President is legally entitled to his annual leave and does not need to maintain continuous physical presence in the Federal Capital Territory to discharge the executive mandate conferred on him in 2023.
“Nigeria’s President is hale and hearty,” Onanuga stated. “He has been on a working vacation, which he is perfectly entitled to. In this digital age, he does not need to be physically present in Abuja to do the work for which he was elected in 2023.”
The Presidency detailed that while abroad, the Nigerian leader has actively engaged international investors and diplomatic partners in France, pointing to his facilitation and signing of the $7 billion Gateway Deep Seaport and 10,000-hectare Blue Marine Special Economic Zone in Ogun Waterside, executed between the Ogun State Government and multinational maritime operator DP World.
Defending the administration’s diplomatic representation at the United Nations, Onanuga observed that heads of state frequently delegate multilateral attendance, noting that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were also absent from the New York gathering without inciting political agitation in their respective countries.
“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,” Onanuga observed. “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 presidential adviser criticized Obi for adopting what he characterized as puerile political rhetoric, arguing that the former Anambra State governor was feigning ignorance regarding established executive travel announcements.
“Yet Peter Obi pretends to be unaware of President Tinubu’s whereabouts and asks the puerile question his followers are asking on X,” the presidential spokesman added.
The State House confirmed that President Tinubu will return to Nigeria this week to preside over the national commemoration of Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary on Thursday, October 1, and will participate in events honoring democratic hero, the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, GCFR, by attending the premiere of a biographical film in Lagos.
