The opposition parties, African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Labour Party (LP), have criticized President Bola Tinubu for leaving Nigeria for Europe on holiday, at a time when the country faces rising insecurity, including foreign military interventions in the North.
The Presidency announced on Sunday that Tinubu departed Lagos for Europe ahead of an official visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to attend the 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit. The trip was reportedly by invitation from His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and will gather global leaders from government, business, and civil society to discuss sustainable development strategies.
Reacting to the announcement, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bola Abdullahi, described the timing as insensitive given recent security challenges, including a deadly bomb blast in Zamfara and ongoing foreign military involvement in Nigeria. “The nation is waiting for reassurance from its leader. Instead, we learn the President has gone on holiday. What a President!” Abdullahi said.
Similarly, LP’s Acting National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, called the trip “insensitive and devoid of empathy,” stressing that the President should remain in Nigeria to coordinate security responses. Speaking through her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa, Usman accused the government of downplaying the severity of the situation and said the President had not convened critical security meetings following the U.S.-led airstrikes on terrorist camps in Kwara and Sokoto States.
The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit will run from January 11 to 15, 2026, under the theme “The Nexus of Next: All Systems Go,” featuring global leaders, investors, and more than 50,000 participants from over 170 countries. President Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria after the summit.
Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu has undertaken at least 46 foreign trips, spending an estimated 192 days abroad. In 2025 alone, he travelled internationally at least 15 times to countries including Ghana, UAE, Tanzania, France, Italy, Saint Lucia, Japan, and Brazil for summits, bilateral engagements, and holidays.
