JUST IN: Tinubu slashes foreign, local trips’ expenditures by 60 per cent

The amount spent on all official travel, both domestic and foreign, has been cut by 60% by President Bola Tinubu.

The president will travel with twenty people, while the vice president and the first lady will only go with a group of five and five, respectively.

The first lady will go with ten people, the president with twenty-five, and the vice president with fifteen for local trips.

President Tinubu has, by his most recent directive, approved a massive cost-cutting exercise that will touch the entire federal government of Nigeria and the offices of the President, Vice President, and First Lady. Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, briefed State House Correspondents on the latest development. The way it will be done is as follows.

The presidential media aide claims that official domestic travel for the president or vice president will be far less expensive. This is the outcome of the president’s order to reduce the enormous bills related to allowances and estacode for security personnel going to those states from Abuja.

He indicated that when he travels to those states, his protection detail will be frontline by state security agencies, such as the DSS for law enforcement or military departments. This significant cost-cutting measure will impact both the First Lady’s and the Vice President’s offices.

Ngelale further stated that the following restrictions have been imposed on all Federation ministers before approving any overseas travel. A minister can go along with four members of their staff, appointees, and the like on official trips.

“For heads of agency, that will be limited to two members of staff allowed to travel on an official trip. Furthermore, the numbers that the President has now approved for official travel with him that will apply to his principal staff are as follows: on international trips the president has directed that no more than 20 individuals be allowed to travel with him.

“That number will be cut down to five in the case of the First Lady. Additionally, the number in the entourage on official international trips for the Vice President will be cut to five, the number that will be placed as a limit on the wife of the Vice President is also five.

He clarified that the President had authorized a new cap of 25 staff to accompany him on domestic visits within the nation.

He verified that just ten staff from the Office of the First Lady are now permitted to travel with her on official domestic travels. The vice president and his wife are each allowed 15 staff members on official domestic visits, and the first lady is permitted a maximum of 10 staff members.

His words, “It is pertinent to note that there is a difference between the number of members of staff allowed to travel with the presiding officials to international trips and those that are allowed for domestic. You will find that the numbers on international trips are less than those allowed on domestic trips. This is because international trips are far more expensive across the board and the President is determined to bring total sanity and prudence to the management of the Commonwealth of our people.

“As a result of this, the President has directed that every federal MDA also including the office of the president itself and the Office of the Vice President as well as the offices of the first and Second Ladies, are affected and bound by this directive of the president.

“Henceforth, the President is insistent that the notion of government wastage, the notion of recurrent expenditure being in excess, the notion that government officials will be allowed to conduct their affairs in a way that is different from what we are asking of Nigerian citizens with respect to prudence and cost management, those days are over.

“The President is insistent that the prudence of government officials must reflect the prudence and efficiency of Nigerian citizens and this is the directive of the President. Thank you very much.”

Asked if this new directive on restrictions will come in form of an executive order, Ajuri simply replied, “With respect to the adherence to this most recent directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I believe we do not need to convince the officers of the federal government of Nigeria of the seriousness of the president with respect to how he will implement his directives.

“If there is anybody who feels that the directive of the President is not binding on them and who feels that the President will not uphold this directive in implementation and seeks to test it, they will do so at their own peril.”

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