What Nigerians need to know about Silk cigarettes Tinubu ‘can’t do without’

“We don’t respond to gossips,” a presidential spokesman, Daniel Bwala, told The Gazette.

Ahmed Oluwasanjo • July 27, 2026

Bola Tinubu and packs of Silk cigarettes

As the saying goes, even if you dress it in silk, tobacco will stick, so what do you need to know about a president’s tobacco-loving habit and favourite brand?

President Bola Tinubu is addicted to smoking a particular brand of cigarettes, says a former secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal.

“The only thing I know he likes much is cigarettes, Silk. He smokes. I don’t know whether he does it now. He likes that a lot. He can’t do without it (sic).

“I have said it before, even his health conditions are publicly known. He is not a healthy man now. Nigerians are not fooled. He is always in France. I have said it before, he should pursue his health.

“He has been president for four years; that is enough. But he cannot do more. We have ample examples to show that when you have declining health and age, your performance runs down exponentially. If I were him, I would face my problems now,” Mr Lawal stated in an interview with Symfoni TV.

Even Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, appeared to be worried about the president’s health.

However, the presidency declined to provide Peoples Gazette with details of Mr Tinubu’s alleged addiction to Silk cigarettes.

“We don’t respond to gossips,” a presidential spokesman, Daniel Bwala, told The Gazette.

What to know about Tinubu’s alleged favourite cigarette

1. Silk Cut itself carries an ominous warning that “smoking seriously harms you and others around you”.

2. A standard pack of 20 Silk Cut cigarettes costs about £19.75

3. Silk Cut is a British brand of low-tar-content cigarettes, introduced into the market in 1964.

4. Low-tar cigarettes do not use different ingredients from high-tar cigarettes. There is no tar-free tobacco as Silk Cut claims.

5. Silk Cut is owned and manufactured by the Gallaher Group, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco.

6. The cigarette comes in white packaging with the brand name written on purple, blue, green, red, and silver labels.

7. Became the best-selling cigarette brand in the UK during the 1990s.

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