President Bola Tinubu is set to undertake a historic State Visit to the United Kingdom later this month, following an invitation from King Charles III.
Tinubu will be accompanied by his wife, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, and will be received by King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, west of London, from March 18 to 19, the British Royal Family confirmed on Sunday.
In a statement posted on its official X account, the Palace said: “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, has accepted an invitation from His Majesty The King to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom from Wednesday, 18 March to Thursday, 19 March 2026. The King and Queen will host the State Visit at Windsor Castle.”
The development was also confirmed by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, who described it as a landmark moment in Nigeria–UK relations.
“First state visit of a Nigerian leader to the UK in 37 years confirmed. President Tinubu and First Lady Remi Tinubu to be hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla from 18 March to 19 March 2026,” Onanuga wrote on X.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a strategic partnership concluded between Nigeria and the United Kingdom in November 2024, aimed at strengthening cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, security, and migration.
It will mark the first time a Nigerian leader has been accorded full state honours in the UK since 1989, when then military president General Ibrahim Babangida paid a four-day State Visit hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, which included a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Before Babangida, only two Nigerian leaders undertook formal State Visits to the UK: General Yakubu Gowon in June 1973 and President Shehu Shagari in 1981.
Although several Nigerian presidents have visited the UK since 1989, those trips were classified as private, working, or official visits, which do not carry the ceremonial prestige of a State Visit. Former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Muhammadu Buhari all visited the UK under such arrangements, including Buhari’s attendance at King Charles III’s coronation in 2023.
President Tinubu has met King Charles III twice since assuming office. Their first meeting occurred on the sidelines of the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai in December 2023, while a second, private meeting took place at Buckingham Palace in September 2024, focusing on climate change and global security.
Since his inauguration in May 2023, Tinubu has undertaken more than 10 foreign trips, spanning Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.
While many were working or summit-related visits, several were officially classified as state or official engagements involving formal invitations and ceremonial protocols. Notable among them are a state visit to Türkiye, where Tinubu met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and signed nine strategic agreements on defence, energy, and trade; a state visit to Brazil in August 2025 at the invitation of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; and an official state visit to China in September 2024 during the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation.
Other official engagements include visits to Equatorial Guinea in August 2024 for talks on maritime security and gas cooperation, the Netherlands in April 2024 for the Nigerian-Dutch Business and Investment Forum, Qatar in March 2024 at the invitation of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Benin Republic in August 2023 as a special guest at its 63rd Independence Anniversary.
