Nigeria Has The Money, Tinubu Should Embark On More Foreign Trips; Says Foreign Minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has said that his principal, President Bola Tinubu should embark on more foreign trips.
Ambassador Yusuf said this on Sunday evening during a live broadcast on Channels TV, stating that the country has money to fund more travels for the President and members of his cabinet.
The minister underlined the benefits of President Tinubu’s prior foreign tours, which he described as having a good impact on Nigeria’s economy.
He said: “Look at the benefits, you travel once and you get N2 million dollars of investment like he did to Brazil, where other countries are chasing after them. But President Tinubu was able to secure that, to invest in developing livestock. They are the largest player in that sector. Slaughtering 50 million chickens every day, 8 point something million cows and look at the Brazilian cows that are 500kg compared to ours that are 250kg. This will also solve herders-farmers’ crisis.
“In fact, I would rather say we are not travelling enough, we should do more. Nigeria has the money. How much does travelling cost compared to the benefits? And how much does it cost comparing it to the things that the President has already addressed?”
It was previously reported that former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi claimed that out of the approximately 580 days President Tinubu has been in office as of December 29, 2024, the President spent more than 30%, or about 180 days, abroad, including more than 30 publicly recorded overseas trips.
It was also reported In August 2024, that President Tinubu spent a staggering N2.3 billion on foreign trips and related expenses in just six months.
This was stated in data obtained 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, the 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.
