Nigeria Revenue Service Executive Chairman Zacch Adedeji on Sunday, 9 August 2026, defended President Bola Tinubu’s personal lifestyle during a Channels Television interview, saying the President walks from his residence to his office, eats once daily and has not travelled outside Nigeria in the past three months.

Adedeji made the comments while responding to journalist Seun Okinbaloye’s questions about the lifestyles of political office holders amid economic pressures confronting Nigerians.

Also read: Tinubu unites 76 APC leaders for Osun poll

The exchange came as public attention remained focused on government spending and the lifestyles of political leaders, particularly at a time when rising living costs continue to shape everyday concerns for many Nigerians.

Adedeji rejected the suggestion that Tinubu lives extravagantly because of his position, instead offering a picture of a President whose personal routine, according to the NRS chairman, is relatively restrained.

He claimed that Tinubu usually walks from his residence to his office and only uses a vehicle when travelling to the airport.

“Mr President goes from home to office on foot, not even driving except when he is going to the airport,” Adedeji said.

The remark followed questions about the President’s movements and reports concerning luxury vehicles, including Escalades, allegedly attached to Tinubu’s convoy.

Adedeji challenged the premise behind the criticism, arguing that the President could afford such vehicles.

“How much is an Escalade that the president of Nigeria cannot afford?” he asked. “Please don’t embarrass this country.”

The NRS chairman also questioned what should be regarded as extravagant living for a Nigerian President.

“What is living large?” Adedeji asked.

He said Tinubu had not travelled outside Nigeria in the previous three months and had instead spent the period working and reviewing official documents.

“In the last months, he has not even left the shores of this country, trekking and working,” Adedeji said.

The description of the President’s routine gave the discussion a more personal dimension, shifting the focus from official vehicles and government expenditure to Tinubu’s daily habits.

Adedeji said anyone who visited the President would find him reviewing documents and attending to official business.

“If you go there now, you will see him review one document or the other,” he said.

The most striking claim concerned Tinubu’s eating habits.

“The president eats once in a day,” Adedeji said.

He also challenged critics to point to instances in which Tinubu had frequently attended parties or taken holidays during his presidency.

“How many parties have you seen him at in the last three years?” Adedeji asked.

“Tell me where you have seen him, whether on holiday or anywhere?”

The comments came amid a wider public debate about the lifestyles of political office holders and the use of public resources.

For citizens dealing with economic pressures, perceptions of how senior officials live can carry considerable weight. Questions about official vehicles, security arrangements and other privileges associated with high office can easily become part of a broader conversation about leadership and accountability.

Adedeji’s intervention, however, focused primarily on Tinubu’s personal lifestyle rather than providing a detailed account of presidential expenditure.

That distinction is important. A claim about how often a President eats, travels or walks to work does not by itself establish the overall cost of maintaining the Presidency or its official operations.

Similarly, the claims about Tinubu’s routine were presented by Adedeji during the interview and were not independently verified in the supplied report.

Still, the NRS chairman’s defence was emphatic.

His argument was that the President’s position should not automatically translate into an assumption of personal extravagance, particularly where the President’s own routine is concerned.

The reference to an Escalade also revealed the tension between personal affordability and public perception. Adedeji argued that the President’s ability to afford a luxury vehicle should not, by itself, be treated as evidence that he lives excessively.

For critics of government spending, however, the broader question is likely to extend beyond Tinubu’s private habits to the cost of running public office and the visible privileges attached to political leadership.

The distinction between personal lifestyle and public expenditure is therefore likely to remain important as the debate continues.

Adedeji’s remarks nevertheless offer a revealing glimpse into how a senior government official views the President’s daily life.

Rather than portraying Tinubu as a leader absorbed in luxury, the NRS chairman described him as someone who walks to work, spends his time reviewing documents, has limited his recent international travel and rarely appears at social gatherings.

Whether that account changes public perceptions will depend on how Nigerians assess the claims against their own experience of economic hardship and the wider debate over government spending.

Also read: Tinubu unites 76 APC leaders for Osun poll

For now, Adedeji’s defence presents a strikingly modest portrait of the President: a leader who, according to the NRS chairman, walks to work, eats one meal a day and spends his time focused on official business.