By Our Reporter
Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) National Secretary, Chief Peter Ameh, has accused President Bola Tinubu of growing increasingly out of touch with Nigerians by spending more time abroad than addressing urgent issues at home.
In a scathing interview with Trust TV, and reported by the Guardian, Ameh said Tinubu is presiding over a country wracked by hunger, insecurity, and inflation while embarking on what critics describe as extended “working vacations” or private sojourns in Europe.
His comments come as the president begins yet another 10-day working vacation in France and the United Kingdom, starting Thursday, September 4, 2025. This marks the latest in a string of foreign trips since he assumed office in May 2023.
Official records show Tinubu has made at least 36 trips in just over two years—covering Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. By February 2025, he had already undertaken 29 foreign visits to at least 16 countries—including London, Paris, Riyadh, New Delhi, Berlin, and New York—spending about 124 days abroad. Together with Vice President Kashim Shettima, the presidency has been absent for a combined 180 days within that period.
While the presidency insists the trips have yielded over $50 billion in foreign direct investment commitments, strengthened international alliances, and expanded strategic partnerships, critics argue the returns are not commensurate with the costs of what they call “absentee leadership.”
Public anger has grown sharper in the face of worsening insecurity. In April 2025, more than 150 people were killed and thousands displaced in northern states while Tinubu was on a nearly three-week trip to Europe. Opposition leaders, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, condemned his absence during the crisis as proof of “governing Nigeria in absentia.”
Ameh warned that Tinubu’s detachment—symbolised by frequent foreign travel even as the country faces economic decay and social unrest—will come back to haunt the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
Confirming the president’s latest trip, his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu will spend his annual leave between France and the UK before returning to Nigeria.