Afrigather As Nigeria grapples with inflation and financial hardships, President Bola Tinubu’s intensive overseas journey expenditures have come beneath scrutiny.
Between February and July, Tinubu’s administration reportedly spent a N2.3 billion on overseas journeys. In a single 12 months, he has visited over 10 nations and spent over N3.4 billion on native, overseas journeys
Right here’s an in depth take a look at the president’s pricey travels and associated bills in accordance with information sourced from GovSpend, an affiliation of BudgIT.
Finances for International Journeys
From February to July 2024, President Tinubu spent a complete of N2,346,623,000 on varied overseas travels. This determine displays not simply the journeys themselves but additionally related prices, which have been a degree of competition among the many Nigerian populace.
Detailed Breakdown of Prices
On a number of events, the State Home authorised vital funds for these journeys:
- N300 million on February 21 for January’s journey bills.
- N250 million on February 24 for additional journey prices.
- Extra bills detailed on March 15 included funds of N42,379,100, N9,484,310, N25,393,490, and N34,185,400.
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Forex Expenditures
Between late February and mid-March, the federal government spent over N2.9 billion on overseas forex acquisition for journeys involving not solely President Tinubu but additionally his spouse and Vice President Kashim Shettima. These journeys included locations like Ethiopia, Switzerland, and France.
Presidential Jet buy
Amid rising public concern over financial insurance policies and inflation, the federal government additionally went forward to amass a brand new presidential airplane, Airbus A330 enterprise jet, for Tinubu, which reportedly price over $100 million.
This buy got here at a time when Nigeria noticed a slight lower in annual inflation for the primary time in 19 months, offering a small respite from the relentless financial challenges.
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These expenditures happen towards the backdrop of rested nationwide protests demanding higher governance and reversals of sure financial insurance policies, particularly gasoline subsidy removing.
The timing and scale of those expenditures have raised questions on prioritisation and sensitivity to the broader financial struggles confronted by Nigerians.
