Tinubu Stumbles During Welcome Ceremony In Turkey
President Bola Tinubu stumbled and fell on Tuesday during a welcome ceremony in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
The incident occurred as he walked alongside Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
Tinubu appeared to have missed his step but was quickly assisted by officials, helping him regain his balance.
Tinubu had arrived at the Turkish presidential palace with a black limousine car.
Immediately after Tinubu alighted from the car, the military band played Nigeria’s national anthem, which was followed by the Turkish national anthem.
After the band’s rendition, there was a moment when the Turkish president used his hands to adjust Tinubu’s body to properly face the band.
Security aides to the rescue as President Tinubu stumbles during a special guard of honour on his state visit to Türkiye pic.twitter.com/Q2FnTWhdPz
— Osun Defender (@OsunDefender) January 27, 2026
Tinubu had departed Abuja for the state visit to Turkey on Monday.
Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, said the president’s visit was meant to strengthen the “existing cordial relations between the two countries and exploring further areas of cooperation in security, education, social development, innovation, and aviation”.
Onanuga noted that finance, communication, trade and investment would dominate political and diplomatic discussions between both countries during Tinubu’s visit.

Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.