By Amofokhai Williams
President Bola Tinubu left Abuja on Sunday for a three-week working vacation in Europe, with London as his first stop.
The Presidency announced this as official campaigning for the January 2027 election gathers pace.
Special Adviser on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga said the trip is part of the president’s annual leave.
Tinubu is expected back in Nigeria after the three weeks to join what Onanuga called the “hectic campaign” for the January 2027 polls.
The statement did not list other European destinations or a detailed itinerary.
The departure comes 11 days after the Independent National Electoral Commission opened the official campaign window on 19 August for the presidential and National Assembly elections, scheduled for 16 January 2027.
Parties may campaign until 24 hours before polling day. Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress candidate, recently named former Zamfara governor Abdulaziz Yari as director-general of the APC presidential campaign council, with himself as chairman and Vice President Kashim Shettima as vice-chairman.
This is Tinubu’s third annual leave since he took office in May 2023. In October 2024 he spent two weeks in the United Kingdom on what the Presidency called a working retreat.
In September 2025 he took a 10-working-day leave split between France and the UK. As on previous trips, the Presidency described the current absence as a working vacation, signalling that official business will continue from abroad.
Onanuga’s statement was silent on whether Tinubu formally transmitted a letter to the Senate President handing over to Shettima.
Under the constitution, a written notification is required for the vice president to act as president.
Shettima is in Luanda representing Nigeria at an African Union extraordinary summit and is expected back later this week.
He only recently completed his first official leave since 2023. The Presidency has previously argued that neither the president nor the vice president must be physically in Nigeria at all times for government to function.
The timing places the incumbent abroad at the start of a compressed, high-stakes campaign season. Tinubu faces a rematch of sorts with Atiku Abubakar (African Democratic Congress) and Peter Obi (Nigeria Democratic Congress), among 19 presidential tickets. Economy and security dominate early messaging.
Tinubu is due back in late September, giving him roughly three and a half months of on-the-ground campaigning before election day.
