The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday night, returned to Nigeria after a two-week private visit to Paris, France, Africa Today News, New York can confirm.
The presidential jet, NAF 001, touched down at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 9 pm.
The President was received by top government officials, including his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Also on the receiving line were the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri; the Director-General of the Department of State Service, Yusuf Bichi, among others.
Although the presidency remained silent on the reason for the visit, the Nigerian leader was billed to return “in the first week of February 2024,” a statement announcing his departure on January 24 noted.
The trip was Tinubu’s third to France and his 14th foreign visit since he assumed office eight months ago.
He returns amid protests in some states over the rising food and living costs.
On Monday through Tuesday, angry youths and women took to the streets of Minna, the Niger State capital and Kano to protest what they described as the rising cost of living in the country. Similar protests also erupted in Ondo State, Nigeria’s South-West.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, said Tinubu had directed immediate interventions to alleviate the suffering and forestall a further breakdown in security.
The minister spoke after a meeting of the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention, chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
After Tuesday’s meeting, which is the first of a series of three, Mohammed told journalists, “It is a special presidential committee to address the issue of food shortage or lack of enough food on the table of most Nigerians.