By Obinna Uballa
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday departed Abuja for Europe to begin a 10-day working vacation, the State House has announced.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President will spend the period between France and the United Kingdom as part of his 2025 annual leave.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja today, September 4, to commence a working vacation in Europe, as part of his 2025 annual leave. The vacation will last 10 working days. President Tinubu will spend the period between France and the UK and then return to the country,” the statement read.
The President’s latest trip comes barely a week after he returned from diplomatic engagements in Japan and Brazil.
Recall that Tinubu attended the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Japan on August 20, and subsequently proceeded to Brazil for a State visit. He returned to Abuja on August 28 after those trips to Japan and Brazil, respectively.
Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips have continued to attract public scrutiny, with France emerging as his most visited destination since assuming office on May 29, 2023.
Reports show that by April 2025, the president had reportedly spent at least 59 days in eight separate visits to France for official, working and private engagements.
On April 2, 2025, the Presidency announced that Tinubu had departed Abuja for Paris “on a short working visit,” which lasted about 18 days. The trip, described by the State House as a retreat, was to review his administration’s midterm performance and assess key milestones.
That visit came months after some earlier trips. In October 2024, President embarked on a two-week working vacation in the UK, and was later said to have traveled to Paris for “an important engagement,” where he reportedly spent an additional eight days.
A month later, in November 2024, he was back in France on a state visit on the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen bilateral ties.
In February 2025, the President made another stop in France for seven days prior to proceeding to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the African Union summit.
Before then, in August 2024, Tinubu was in France for four days during a period of diplomatic tension between Ogun State and a Chinese firm. Earlier in January 2024, he also spent 14 days in France on what was described as a private visit.
The President was also on a visit to France while he was president-elect before his May 29, 2023, inauguration.
