Tinubu’s Ministers and Agencies Spend ₦‎1.8 Billion on Air Travel Despite Ban

Ministries and agencies under President Bola Tinubu's administration in Nigeria spent over ₦1.8 billion on air tickets, estacodes, and duty tour allowances.

This lavish expenditure occurred despite a three-month ban on publicly-funded trips for ministers and agency heads, which was enacted by President Tinubu starting April 1, 2024.

The ban aimed to "reduce the rise in expenses incurred by MDAs on international travel and ensure that the ministers and heads of agencies were focused on their respective mandates."

Key spenders included the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, which spent ₦322 million; the Ministry of Finance with ₦187.2 million; the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) with ₦150 million; and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources with ₦108 million.

Other involved ministries and agencies include the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Police Affairs, and the Ministry of Youth Development, among others. Civil society groups have criticized this spending as wasteful and a misallocation of government resources.

Okechukwu Nwaguma, Executive Director of the Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre, described the expenditures as "a misallocation of government resources," emphasizing the need for stringent policies regarding travel and expenditure by government officials.

Similarly, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, lamented that these travels had not attracted the needed foreign direct investments to the country.

The issue shows important concerns about fiscal discipline and governance within Tinubu's administration, highlighting tensions between policy directives and actual financial practices. As one forum member noted, "Tinubu claims there is no money to subsidize for Nigerians but there is money to subsidize corruption and political luxury for him and his cronies in office."

Another added, "The ministers and heads of the agencies should be held accountable for this. It seems they are not taking the president's directive seriously."