President Muhammadu Buhari is in Maiduguri, Borno State Capital, to celebrate the 57th independence anniversary with troops.
A source at the presidency confirmed this on Sunday.
Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, also confirmed that the president was on his way to Maiduguri.
In his independence day message earlier in the day, the president praised the military for rolling back the threat of Boko Haram.
“Nigerians must be grateful to our gallant armed forces for rolling back the frontiers of Boko Haram’s terrorism, defeating them and reducing them to cowardly attacks on soft and vulnerable targets,” he said.
The customary change of guard by the presidential brigade of guards to mark the nation’s independence did not take place on Sunday, and no explanation was given for it.