President Bola Tinubu’s administration has spent a staggering N2.3 billion on foreign trips and related expenses within six months.
This revelation, sourced from the GovSpend analytics platform by BudgIT Foundation, highlights the extensive costs associated with presidential travel between February 21 and July 19, 2024.
During the period, the State House Headquarters in Abuja recorded payments for presidential trips, beginning with N300 million on February 21, 2024, for January’s expenses.
Additional payments followed, including N250 million on February 24 and a series of transactions on March 15, 2024, totalling hundreds of millions of naira.
The expenditures cover a wide range of activities related to foreign trips by the administration’s officials.
Moreover, the government spent over N2.9 billion between February 24 and March 15, 2024, on purchasing foreign exchange to fund trips by President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and First Lady Remi Tinubu.
The trips included visits to Dubai, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Liberia, France, and Côte d’Ivoire, with substantial sums used to acquire US dollars for these journeys.
For instance, N750 million was spent to purchase $1.27 million for President Tinubu’s trip to Dubai, while N1.04 billion was allocated to secure $692,265 for his visit to Ethiopia. The Vice President and First Lady also incurred costs for their trips, including N426.88 million for a visit to Switzerland and N149.79 million for the First Lady’s trip to France.
The expenditures have drawn sharp criticism, especially as they coincide with severe economic hardship in Nigeria.
President Tinubu recently urged Nigerians to endure the difficulties brought about by his economic policies, which have exacerbated inflation and contributed to widespread hunger.