Presidency says Tinubu is well and continuing official work during vacation

Nigeria’s Presidency has said President Bola Tinubu is “hale and hearty” and continues to carry out official responsibilities during his annual vacation. The assurance was issued in a statement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga on Sunday, amid concerns about Tinubu’s absence from Abuja and from the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Onanuga said the President was entitled to take a working vacation and argued that modern communications allowed him to perform his duties without being physically present in Nigeria’s capital.

The statement said Tinubu had remained engaged with official activities while abroad. It cited reported meetings with investors in France and referred to a proposed $7bn deep-sea port project in Ogun Waterside. The Presidency described the project as an initiative of the Ogun State Government that Tinubu had recently helped facilitate.

Addressing the President’s absence from the UN General Assembly, the statement said other African leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, were also not in New York. Tinubu had announced his vacation and delegated Nigeria’s representation to Vice-President Kashim Shettima. The Presidency also criticised Peter Obi, a former Anambra governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, for questioning Tinubu’s whereabouts.

It said the President was expected to return to Nigeria during the week before the country’s 66th Independence Anniversary. Onanuga added that Tinubu was expected to attend the premiere of a film about the late businessman and democracy campaigner MKO Abiola in Lagos. The source material did not specify the President’s location beyond the reference to his vacation and activities in France.