Tinubu returns to Abuja after pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

President Bola Tinubu kissing the black stone on the Ka'abah in Makkah. Photo: State House

President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja on Wednesday night after a week-long lesser pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Airbus A330-200 conveying the president touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 8:53pm, a terse update by the State House media office revealed.

The President was received on the tarmac by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minister of Education, the Minister of State for Defence, the Inspector-General of Police, and other senior government officials.

Tinubu had departed Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport earlier on Wednesday at 5:13pm Saudi time aboard the presidential aircraft.

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The visit, which began on Thursday last week, saw the President perform the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, at the Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram.

On Sunday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud granted Tinubu entrance into the interior of the Holy Ka’abah, where he and members of his delegation performed the two raka’at prayers and offered supplications for Nigeria’s peace, unity, and prosperity.

Speaking to journalists after completing the Umrah rites on Friday, the President had declared that only God could determine who would lead Nigeria.

It came days after he flagged off his re-election campaign in Kaduna on October 24, ahead of the January 16, 2027 general elections.

The President’s entourage included the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the governors of Sokoto, Jigawa, Kaduna, Borno and Yobe States, among others.