Tinubu lands in France ‘for medical reasons’, presidency keeps mute

Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu has gone to France, SaharaReporters has gathered.

The President’s trip to France came a few days after his trip to Saudi Arabia officially ended following the conclusion of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on Monday. Investigation by SaharaReporters showed that the President first went to London, England from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, and then left the UK for France on Thursday.

While the Presidency has been silent on the trip to the UK from Saudi Arabia and later to France, SaharaReporters was told that the President’s unreported trip to France was for medical reasons.

“The President is in France to see his doctors,” a source said.

An investigation by SaharaReporters revealed that a Nigerian presidential aircraft, a Gulfstream Aerospace GV-SP (G550) with registration number 5N-FGW and serial number 5310 (Mode-S 0640F2) with Tinubu onboard arrived at Paris Airport-Le Bourget, France around 04:00pm on Thursday from an airport in London.

The President on Tuesday morning left Saudi Arabia – where he attended the World Economic Forum – for London.

A statement issued last week by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale said the special WEF meeting in Riyadh would end on Monday, April 29.

“After his engagements in the Netherlands, President Tinubu will proceed to attend a special World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting scheduled for April 28-29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” the statement had read.

Meanwhile, in the statement, the Presidency carefully left out information about when Tinubu was expected back in Nigeria after the international forum or that he would visit the UK and France after leaving Saudi Arabia.

Also, the Presidency has been silent on President Tinubu’s whereabouts since the international summit ended on Monday, April 29.

Efforts to reach Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, for comments and clarification failed as he did not answer calls from our correspondent. He also did not reply to messages sent to his mobile phone.

However, SaharaReporters learnt that the 5N-FGW (Gulfstream Aerospace) which was operated as Nigerian Air Force 1 – meaning the President was on board – left Riyadh International Airport on Tuesday, April 30 at 12:05 am (02:05 am Saudi Arabian time) and arrived at Stansted Airport, London at 06:35 am, UK time.

The jet was used to replace the Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-700) 5N-FGT that is still in Germany for repairs.

“Nigerian Air Force 1 isn’t technically the plane, it’s simply the radio call name for any Nigerian Air Force jet carrying the President of Nigeria.

“As soon as the president steps aboard an Air Force jet, either the Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-700) 5N-FGT or Gulfstream Aerospace GV-SP (G550) with registration number 5N-FGW or the Falcon 7X jet (5N-FGV), that aircraft is referred to as Nigeria Air Force 1 by the crew and all air traffic controllers, in order to avoid confusion with any other planes in the area and give him special treatment.

“No plane can operate as Nigerian Air Force 1 without the President onboard, it’s an illegal and treasonable offence. So for it to be operated as NAF 01 to London as you stated clearly showed President Tinubu was onboard.

“If you check the flight history of the current plane in London, you would realise it was operated recently as Nigerian Air Force 2, meaning that Vice President Shettima was the one onboard,” a senior Nigerian Air Force officer had told SaharaReporters.

Before the 2023 general elections, Tinubu’s health was a source of concern for many Nigerians.

SaharaReporters had reported how the former Lagos governor spent over four months patronising hospitals in France, the United States and the United Kingdom where he underwent several surgeries between 2020 and 2022.

He was flown out of the country some days before Christmas in 2020 to Paris, France. The President returned to Nigeria on January 24, 2021, after a month’s absence from Nigeria.

He also went for a medical check-up in France in June 2021 and was conspicuously absent from a one-day working visit of then-President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos State. Tinubu, amidst death rumours, was forced to return to the country on Tuesday, June 15, 2021.

SaharaReporters also reported that Tinubu was hospitalised in Maryland, the United States in July 2021. On August 9, the APC leader had another knee surgery at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Maryland, U.S.

The APC chieftain, it was learnt, left the U.S. for the United Kingdom on crutches, a few days after the surgery.

Sources close to Tinubu had told SaharaReporters that he wanted the surgery in Paris, France but changed his plan over rumours of his death.

In August, his predecessor, President Buhari paid a visit to Tinubu in London and the latter was seen with a walking stick during Buhari’s visit, confirming SaharaReporters’ story that he had undergone surgery in the US.

Upon his return in October 2022, Tinubu confirmed that he underwent surgery on his right knee as well as post-surgery physiotherapy on the said knee during his medical trip abroad.

SaharaReporters also reported how the President, after the May 29, 2023 swearing-in became exhausted and went on a bed rest.

SaharaReporters also exclusively reported that Tinubu returned to France to see his doctors, weeks before his inauguration on May 29.