By: Ganiyu Olayinka
President Bola Tinubu has concluded his working vacation in France and left Paris for Lagos, where he is set to begin a series of strategic meetings with political leaders and associates ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to a statement issued Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President’s aircraft is expected to touch down at Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, later that evening.
Tinubu left Abuja on August 30 for the trip, spending a week in London before proceeding to Paris bringing his total time away to roughly four weeks. The Presidency said he opted to make Lagos his first stop in Nigeria to honour the memory of the late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and a central figure in the country’s democratic struggle. He is expected to attend the premiere of a film honouring Abiola at the Wole Soyinka National Theatre, Iganmu, on Independence Day, October 1.
Onanuga’s statement said the President’s Lagos stay would double as a political working visit: “While in Lagos, President Tinubu will also hold strategic meetings with political leaders and associates over several days in preparation for the 2027 elections.”
While in Paris, Tinubu held a private dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and met with business leaders, including Vincent Bolloré of the Bolloré Group, whose media and digital holdings include Canal+, MultiChoice and Universal Music Group. On Monday, he also met with First HoldCo Chairman, Femi Otedola.
His time in the French capital also included witnessing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ogun State Government and DP World for the development of the Gateway deep seaport in Ogun Waterside and the accompanying Blue Marine Economic Zone. DP World which the Presidency describes as one of the world’s leading ports and logistics operators has pledged to invest $7 billion in the two projects.
Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja once his political engagements in Lagos are concluded.
The backdrop: weeks of scrutiny over his absence
The President’s extended stay abroad had drawn criticism at home, notably after he skipped the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York; Vice President Kashim Shettima stood in for him, delivering Nigeria’s national address. Throughout the trip, the Presidency insisted there was no governance vacuum, with Onanuga at one point describing the President as “hale and hearty” and actively discharging his duties from Europe. The vacation itself had already been pushed back once, after the government’s initial plan for him to return over a weekend was extended by several days.
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