The data reveals that between February 21 and July 19, 2024, President Tinubu incurred N2,346,623,000 in foreign trip expenses, a significant portion of his overall spending since taking office.
Despite soaring inflation, widespread hunger, and hardship in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has spent a staggering N2.3 billion on foreign trips and related expenses in just six months, according to data from GovSpend, a BudgIT Foundation analytics platform.
The data reveals that between February 21 and July 19, 2024, President Tinubu incurred N2,346,623,000 in foreign trip expenses, a significant portion of his overall spending since taking office.
According to GovSpend, on February 21, 2024, State House Headquarters, Abuja made a N300,000,000 payment for Presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of January 2024.
On February 24, 2034, State House Headquarters also made a N250,000,000 payment for Presidential trips and other related expenses. And on March 15, 2024, N42,379,100 was paid for Presidential trips and other related expenses.
On March 15, 2034, N9,484,310 was paid for Presidential trips and other related expenses. Another N25,393,490 was paid for Presidential trips and other related expenses, and another N34,185,400 was paid for the same purpose on the same date.
Another N5,602,600 was paid by the State House to the State House Headquarters transit account - where other payments were made - for Presidential trips and other related expenses.
On the same March 15, another N106,422,600 payment was made for presidential trips and other related expenses, and another N5,505,100 was also paid for the same purpose on the same date.
Also, N5,001,700 was paid for Presidential trips and other related expenses on the same March 15.
The sum of N65,474,000 was also paid on March 15, by State House Headquarters to the State House Headquarters transit account for presidential trips and other related expenses. Another N300,000,000 was paid tagged, “Payment for Presidential trips and other related expenses as per March cash flow”.
On May 17, 2024, the sum of N51,533,300 was paid for presidential trips and other related expenses. Another N221,240,500 was paid on the same date for ‘Provision of Presidential Trips and Other Related Expenses’. Also, N53,211,300 was paid on the same date for the same purpose.
Another N21,189,600 was paid on May 17 as provision for presidential trips and other related expenses and on May 29, 2024, N350,000,000 was paid for presidential trips and other related expenses.
On July 13, the sum of N350,000,000 was paid for presidential trips and other related expenses, and on July 19, N7,520,000 was paid for presidential trips and other related expenses.
Also, N48,000,000 was paid on the same July 19, for the same presidential trips and other related expenses.
Similarly, between February 24 and March 15, 2024, President Tinubu’s government spent the sum of N2,902,314,310.35 on buying foreign exchange for President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and First Lady, Remi Tinubu for foreign trips to Ethiopia, Switzerland, Liberia, France, Cote d'Ivoire, and other specified purposes.
According to the payment details on GovSpend, on February 24, the sum of N750,000,000 was used to buy $1,271,997 US Dollars for the President's trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a journey he embarked upon on November 27, 2033.
Also, N1,041,240,840.04 was paid by the State House Headquarters to the State House Headquarters transit account for the purchase of $692,265 US Dollars which President Tinubu used for his trip to Ethiopia on February 9, 2024.
Another payment record on February 24, showed that the State House Headquarters also paid the sum of N426,884,394.69 for the purchase of $483,277 US Dollars for the Vice President's trip to Switzerland which was on January 15, 2024.
Also, N86,758,921.46 was paid on February 24 for the purchase of$93,004 US Dollars for the Vice President's trip to Liberia, a journey he embarked upon on January 23, 2024.
Another N176,768,706.33 was paid for the purchase of$116,524 US Dollars for the Vice President's trip to Cote D'Ivoire on January 9 to watch the Semi-Final African Cup of Nations match.
On the same February 24, N149,794,284.71 was paid for the purchase of $152,831 US Dollars for the First Lady’s trip to France, which was on January 4, 2024.
Also, on March 15, N144,571,785.46 was paid for the purchase of $96,118 US Dollars for the First Lady's trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was on January 9.
Another N126,295,377.66 was paid for the purchase of $83,967 for the First Lady's trip to London in March.
Meanwhile, N243,322,376.72; N739,074,000; N149,047,575.43; N358,527,663.55; N46,182,074.74 and N73,070,768.23 were paid on July 17, 2024 respectively for the purchase of unspecified amounts of Dollars and for undisclosed purposes.
In the same vein, the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President on February 22, 2024 paid the sum of N40,000,000 to the State House Headquarters transit account for hiring of the aircraft to convey President Tinubu and his team to from Abuja to Lagos for the book lunch of former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola.
The expenses come at a time when President Tinubu asked Nigerians to endure acute hunger and hardship his economic policies have brought on the country.
It was also at the time when Nigeria’s organised labour under the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) were negotiating a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers, with the government insisting there were no resources to meet at least N250,000 initially demanded by the organised labour.
Despite initially proposing N62,000, President Tinubu's government ultimately signed a new national minimum wage of N70,000 into law in July, sparking mixed reactions from Nigerian workers.
The move was followed by a 10-day nationwide protest, as citizens expressed their discontent with the government's handling of hunger, hardship, and governance issues.