Presidency Dismisses Claims of Tinubu’s Illness, Says President “Still in Office”

The Presidency has refuted media reports alleging that President Bola Tinubu is ill and preparing to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Last week, the Nigerian Institute for Investigative Journalism, quoting unnamed sources, claimed that the President’s medical team was making arrangements to evacuate him for treatment. The report further alleged that Tinubu was bedridden, causing a slowdown in governance, and that Vice President Kashim Shettima had been taking over his official duties. It also stated that several engagements scheduled for early last week were cancelled.

Speaking to BBC Hausa on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, AbdulAziz AbdulAziz, dismissed the claims outright.

“There is no truth in these statements. He is still in office,” AbdulAziz said.

Speculation about the President’s health intensified after he was absent from the August 3 ceremony honouring Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, where Vice President Shettima represented him.

President Tinubu was last seen in public on August 1 at the opening of the Summit on Journalism for National Development. Before that, he attended a reception for the Super Falcons to celebrate their victory at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.