President recently extended his medical leave, deepening suspicions that his health was far worse than officials admit.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has returned home after extended medical leave in the UK, state television reported on Friday.
Buhari walked unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna. The former military ruler then boarded a waiting helicopter, state television showed.
"The president ... while addressing senior government officials who came to welcome him, assured them that he is now feeling much better to perform his responsibilities," state TV NTA said on its website.
Buhari will dedicate himself to the nation "to the best of his ability," it added.
The 74-year-old, who took power in May 2015, left Abuja on January 19 for treatment in Britain.
He had originally planned to stay 10 days but stayed longer to rest after consulting his doctors, deepening suspicions that his health was far worse than officials are publicly admitting.
Al Jazeera's Ama Boateng, reporting from Kaduna, said Buhari's return was announced last-minute after he remained out of sight for weeks.
"He has finally returned to the African soil," she said, adding that even though Nigerians are usually very sympathetic towards sick leave, there were concerns about how the country can run efficiently when the commander-in-chief is absent.
The statement on Thursday from special adviser Femi Adesina said Buhari's "holiday" had been extended on doctors' recommendations for further testing and rest. It gave no details about the health of the president.
"President Buhari expresses appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent their good wishes," the statement said, giving no medical details.
Earlier on Thursday, the presidency had published pictures of a smiling Buhari meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in Abuja House, part of the Nigerian High Commission in London.
No official pictures of Buhari's meetings in London had been posted since February 15.
The government had sought to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africa's biggest economy and most populous country by stressing that Buhari, who was elected to power on a campaign that vowed to root out corruption, had given Vice President Yemi Osinbajo full powers as acting president during his leave.
Osinbajo, a lawyer, held in Buhari's absence cabinet meetings and finished work on an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help to plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues.
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Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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