President Bola Tinubu has returned to Nigeria after spending four weeks on a working vacation in Europe.
According to Channels Television, the president arrived in Lagos from Paris, France, aboard Nigerian Air Force One, which taxied into the presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport at about 6:22pm.
Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for London before travelling to Paris, where he held engagements with French President Emmanuel Macron, including a dinner.
The president was received by senior government officials, including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; and security chiefs, among others.
The presidency had earlier announced that Tinubu would leave France on Tuesday for Lagos to honour the memory of the late MKO Abiola, whom it described as a martyr of Nigeria’s democratic struggle.
Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, said the president would attend the premiere of a film celebrating Abiola, the winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, at the Wole Soyinka National Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, on Independence Day.
Onanuga added that Tinubu would also hold strategic meetings with political leaders and associates over several days in Lagos before travelling back to Abuja.
Tinubu had initially been expected to return to Nigeria on September 20 after the presidency announced on August 30 that he would spend three weeks on a working vacation.
However, on September 21, the presidency announced that the president had extended his stay abroad by a few days and would return to Nigeria at the weekend.
Onanuga, in a statement, said Tinubu had remained in contact with officials in Nigeria and continued to oversee government affairs while abroad.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima represented the president at some official engagements during his absence.
Shettima also travelled to New York on September 20 to represent Nigeria at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Tinubu’s prolonged absence prompted a constitutional debate, with some opposition figures questioning whether presidential powers should have been formally transferred to Shettima after 21 days.
Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution provides that if the president is proceeding on vacation, he shall transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after which the vice-president performs the functions of the president in an acting capacity.