The Nigerian presidency has reassured the public that President Bola Tinubu remains in good health, even as opposition figures step up pressure for details on his prolonged stay abroad.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy who made clarification on Sunday, said Tinubu, who is currently on working vacation, is entitled to conduct state business remotely and does not need to be physically present in Abuja to fulfill his duties.
He pointed to his recent engagements with investors in France, including his role in advancing a $7 billion deep-sea port project in Ogun Waterside, backed by the Ogun State Government, as evidence he remains active.
Onanuga also noted that other African leaders skipped this year’s UN General Assembly without drawing similar scrutiny — South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa opted out of public engagements, and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also stayed away from New York, in both cases without triggering domestic controversy.
Tinubu, by contrast, had publicly announced his vacation and delegated UNGA attendance to Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The president is expected to return home this week in time for Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day celebrations and to attend a Lagos film premiere honoring the late democracy icon, MKO Abiola.
The reassurances come after the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) demanded fuller disclosure about Tinubu’s whereabouts.
In a statement issued Sunday, the council’s media director, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party was troubled that as of September 27, the president had still not returned, six days after his three-week vacation was originally due to end.
The ADC argued that the presidency is a public trust, and Nigerians are entitled to know where their leader is and who is exercising executive authority in his absence.
The council said this transparency is especially critical given the country’s ongoing economic strain, hardship, and security concerns, and it called for verifiable details on Tinubu’s location, the reason for the extended trip, and the constitutional framework guiding governance during his absence.
The party also pressed for clarity on the status of the vacation itself and questioned the constitutional basis for the president remaining outside the country beyond the timeline initially communicated to the public.
Ologbondiyan’s statement stressed that presidential movements should not be treated as a private matter when they bear directly on the governance of a nation of more than 200 million people and called for openness rather than secrecy.
The ADC further raised concerns over reports that the vacation had been extended, along with the directive instructing Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, to continue representing the president at official events.
While acknowledging that the presidency may offer procedural explanations, the council argued this does not resolve the core question of who holds effective control of government functions during Tinubu’s absence.
The party said it stood with other concerned citizens in calling for accountability, adding that continued silence from the presidency would only deepen public unease and encourage speculation.
