Wasteful Tinubu spent N3.4b on global junkets but has now reduced his entourage
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bola Tinubu, who has been ruling on borrowed money, spent the first six months of his presidency junketing across the world at the cost of N3.4 billion with little to show for foreign investment he claimed he was seeking for a country with a notorious hostile business environment that discourages investors.
The President budgets N7.63b for foreign travels in 2024, but has now reduced the number of officials who travel with him.
A report released last week by CardinalStone predicted more international firms may quit Tinubu’s domain, Nigeria, in 2024 if he does not sit up and fix the country’s broken social and economy systems.
Tinubu last week cut the entourage accompanying him and other government officials on foreign and local travels, which will reduce costs 60 per cent but Nigerians are howling that is not enough. They want him to slash the cost of running the entire government to free up funds for the productive sectors.
GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses federal government spending, shows a total N1.15 billion was spent on presidential trips and other related expenses but the figure excludes estacodes, per reporting by The PUNCH.
Tinubu spent about N3.4 billion on local and foreign travels within six months of assuming office, 36 per cent more than N2.49 billion earmarked for his travel expenditure in the 2023 budget.
He inherited the budget halfway but spent more than the amount apportioned for the whole year between June and December 2023.
He also approved N3 billion for the purchase of three bulletproof Mercedes Benz S-class 580 and other vehicles for the State House.
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Late last year, the Tinubu administration came under public blowback for sponsoring 1,114 delegates to the United Nation’s annual climate summit (COP28) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
The Presidency said it sponsored only 422 delegates, yet reports showed it spent N2.78 billion on airfares and estacodes alone.
Monthly breakdown of travel costs in 2023
- June – N82.2 million
- July – not stated
- August – N393.3 million
- September – N287.9 million
- October – not stated
- November – N314.2 million
- December – N69.2 million
A total N732.8 million was paid to two travel tour firms – Hinterland Travels and Travel Options – for the purchase of presidential international and local air tickets, suggesting Tinubu did not use the presidential air fleet for some trips.
Hinterland Travels was paid N687.7 million and Travel Options N45.1 million.
Another N1.53 billion was paid for foreign exchange (forex) worth $5.1 million, 300 euros.
On 5 September 2023, Tinubu spent N791 million to purchase $4 million forex and Remi his wife paid N77.7 million for $94.314 forex.
Tinubu junkets
In their first seven months in office, Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima have visited 16 countries and collectively spent 91 days in foreign engagements.
Tinubu has visited France (twice), the United Kingdom, Guinea-Bissau (twice), Kenya, Benin Republic, India, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Germany, spending 55 days.
Shettima has represented him in Italy, Russia, South Africa, Cuba, China and the US, logging 36 days abroad in 2023.
He left Abuja on January 14 to represent Nigeria at the 2024 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland in hopes of attracting foreign investment.
Switzerland became Shettima’s seventh foreign destination since assuming office with Tinubu on 29 May 2023.
Criticism of foreign travels
The Villa defends these trips as vital for attracting foreign investment to Nigeria, but critics question their economic impact, as some foreign companies are leaving the country because of unstable power supply, corruption, and other factors.
Latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows capital importation crashed 43.55 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023), defying Tinubu’s efforts to attract investment.
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CSLAC) Executive Director Auwal Rafsanjani said the Tinubu administration has not been truthful with its stance to reduce the cost of governance, stressing that if the President means business, he would have reduced allocations in the 2024 budget he recently signed into law.
“Everyone knows that the government is lying because first and foremost, you just submitted a budget and it was passed weeks back and no attempt was made to reduce the duplication and waste in the budget,” Rafsanjani argued.
“The President should have shown right from the proposed budget that he is serious about reducing the cost of governance so that all the duplication, waste and money meant to be diverted and stolen will be blocked.
“All he said is politics. The Tinubu administration has no regard and respect in terms of public spending. Let nobody be deceived that they meant what they are talking about. It’s sad because everything shouldn’t be political or politicised. There should be sincerity and honesty in everything we do.
“What Tinubu has done is simply to stir up public sentiments and get the public to applaud him for doing nothing.
“In reality, the President created more ministries and ministers unnecessarily. These are part of what is eating up public funds and not just travel expenses. The President should show his readiness to reduce the cost of governance by reducing budgetary allocations and stop playing public sentiments.”
