The Presidency has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu is travelling to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, insisting that the trip, which begins on Thursday, is a religious pilgrimage. Dada Olusegun, the President’s Special Adviser on Social Media, said Tinubu was heading to Makkah to perform the Lesser Hajj (Umrah), pray for Nigeria and commit his 2027 re-election bid to God. The rebuttal adds a new chapter to a long-running public debate over the President’s health and the time he has spent outside the country.
Olusegun was responding to a post on X by human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore. On Wednesday, Sowore wrote that Nigeria was in “serious trouble”, claiming there were indications the President was being prepared for another foreign trip “amid growing questions about his health.” He also alleged that five governors, some ministers and prominent businessmen were being assembled for the journey to make it look like an official visit, before asking: “Like Yar’Adua, like Tinubu?”
In his reply, Olusegun said Umrah was a regular practice among Muslims before any critical journey or milestone. He recalled that Tinubu performed Umrah twice in 2022, first in April before the APC presidential primary and again in late December ahead of the general election. “His prayers were answered on both occasions,” he wrote, adding that it was “only sensible to stick to a potent strategy.”
The aide also pointed to the President’s recent schedule as evidence of good health. According to him, Tinubu flagged off his re-election campaign in Kaduna on Saturday, received former African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina, on Wednesday and presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting the same day. “Mr President is fit as a fiddle,” Olusegun stated, describing Sowore’s claims as ill wishes.
The official position had been set out a day earlier. In a statement on Wednesday, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said the visit would give Tinubu an opportunity for spiritual reflection and prayers for Nigeria’s peace, unity and stability. Onanuga said the President would commission equipment acquired by the Nigerian Air Force at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport before departing, and would return next week. The Presidency has not published the full list of officials travelling with him.
Sowore’s comparison with Umaru Musa Yar’Adua carries weight in Nigerian political memory. Yar’Adua left for Saudi Arabia in November 2009 for treatment of a heart condition and remained away for about three months without formally transferring power. The resulting vacuum ended only when the National Assembly adopted the “doctrine of necessity” in February 2010 to make Vice President Goodluck Jonathan acting President, and Yar’Adua died in May that year.
Health questions also dominated much of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term. In 2017, Buhari spent about 50 days in London on medical leave early in the year, and returned for a second stay that lasted more than 100 days. Tinubu’s own medical history became a campaign issue before 2023, after he spent about three months in the United Kingdom in 2021 recovering from knee surgery.
Since he took office, the President’s travel record has become a separate source of criticism. An analysis of GovSpend records and flight data by the civic technology group BudgIT shows that Tinubu had made 52 foreign trips, visited at least 30 countries and spent about 261 days outside Nigeria as of late August 2026. If completed as planned, the Saudi trip would be his 53rd.
The same records show that the Presidency spent ₦37.64bn on presidential trips, logistics and related foreign exchange between June 2023 and April 2026. Spending peaked at ₦25.27bn in 2024, after ₦9.19bn in 2023, before dropping to ₦2.71bn in 2025 and ₦477.45m between January and April 2026. In January 2026 alone, the President spent 22 days abroad, including about 10 days in France for his end of year break, a week at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and a state visit to Türkiye.
The Presidency has consistently defended the trips as economic diplomacy aimed at attracting investment and strengthening Nigeria’s foreign relations. It has also rejected previous claims about the President’s health, including rumours in August 2025 that he was being prepared for urgent treatment abroad, which Onanuga described at the time as baseless.
There is no independent medical information in the public domain to support or disprove the claims about the President’s health. What is on record is the Presidency’s account of the trip’s purpose and its timetable for his return. With the 2027 campaign now formally under way, the President’s movements in the coming week are likely to remain under close public watch.