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Federal Capital Territory FCT minister Nyesom Wike has said it all, if you want to rise you must open your hands for people.

He said: “Politics is sacrifice. You cannot get to where I am today if your hands are tight.

Open your hands for people. People made us to be what we are today, open your hands for them.”

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The Presidency’s domestic and foreign travel-related expenditure has gulped N37.64 billion in three years, an analysis of government expenditure records has shown.

The records, released by GovSpend, an accountability platform that tracks public expenditure in Nigeria, covered presidential trips and other travel-related expenses from June 2023 to April 2026.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu embarked on another foreign journey, leaving Abuja on Sunday for Europe on a three-week annual vacation, with London, United Kingdom, as his first destination.

The President’s vacation comes shortly after Vice President Kashim Shettima came back from a two-week vacation.

Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, on Sunday said Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria after the working vacation to “join the hectic campaign for the January 2027 elections.”

The Presidency did not disclose his full itinerary or the other European countries he may visit during the leave.

According to official travel records and available flight data analysed by Daily Trust, President Tinubu has spent approximately 261 days outside Nigeria in 51 foreign trips since assuming office.

The latest three-week vacation increases Tinubu’s tally to 52 trips.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the Presidency on the trips were not successful, as Mr. Bayo Onanuga’s line could not be reached.

Also, Dr Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, did not respond to calls made to his phone.

As of the time of filing this report last night, messages sent to the presidential aides, including WhatsApp messages, were yet to be replied to.

N37.64bn travel expenditure

An analysis of GovSpend records covering June 2023 to April 2026 shows that the Presidency spent N37,639,227,853.51 on presidential trips, associated logistics, foreign exchange transactions and other travel-related expenses.

The expenditure breakdown shows that the Presidency spent N9,185,966,339.75 in the second half of 2023, N25,269,969,240.92 in 2024 and N2,705,843,328.38 in 2025.

Between January and April 2026, the figure showed that the Presidency spent N477,448,944.46 on presidential trips and other travel-related expenses.

The Presidency’s travel-related expenditure peaked in 2024, when it spent more than N25.26bn, driven largely by foreign exchange allocations and substantial funding for the Presidential Air Fleet.

In 2023, spending commenced shortly after Tinubu assumed office, with several payments on June 23 totalling more than N150m for “presidential trips and other related expenses.”

This was followed by Presidential Air Fleet forex transit funding of N846.03 million and N674.82 million in July.

August recorded transactions including N152.37m for $200,000, N228.55m for $300,000 and N146.65m for $315,300, alongside a direct N250 million travel expense.

The Presidential Air Fleet also received N2bn and N713.22m in forex funding during the month.

By September, the State House processed four separate N197.69m forex transactions, each linked to $1m allocations for presidential trips.

In November and December, notable payments included N114.24m to Hinterland Travel & Tours Limited for flight tickets.

51 trips, 261 days abroad

The travel expenditure has coincided with an extensive foreign itinerary.

The latest comprehensive travel tally shows that Tinubu has undertaken 51 foreign trips, visited at least 30 countries and spent approximately 261 days abroad since taking office on May 29, 2023.

France has been his most frequent destination, followed by London, while the United Arab Emirates also featured repeatedly.

The President’s travel schedules included official summits, state visits, bilateral engagements, investment meetings and private or working vacations.

2023

Tinubu’s first foreign trip after assuming office was to Paris, France, from June 20–24, 2023, where he attended the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact.

He subsequently travelled to Guinea-Bissau in July for the ECOWAS summit, followed by Kenya for the African Union mid-year coordination meeting.

In August, he visited the Republic for its Independence Anniversary.

September saw trips to India and the United Arab Emirates for the G20 Leaders’ Summit, followed by a journey to the United States for the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He later travelled to Germany for the G20 Compact with Africa conference, Saudi Arabia for the Saudi-Africa Summit and Guinea-Bissau for its 50th independence anniversary.

He returned to France from November 27 to December 1 for a state visit to Paris before travelling to Dubai, UAE, for COP28.

2024

Tinubu spent about two weeks in France between January 24 and February 6, before travelling to Ethiopia for the African Union summit.

He then visited Qatar from February 29 to March 4 for an official state visit.

In April, he travelled to Senegal for the inauguration of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, followed later that month by visits to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

He also spent an extended period in the United Kingdom and France around late April and May.

In May, he visited Chad for the inauguration of President Mahamat Idriss Déby.

His itinerary later included South Africa, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, China, and the United Kingdom.

The China trip from August 29 to September 6 included his participation in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, while the subsequent UK visit included an engagement with King Charles III.

2025

Tinubu travelled to Ghana, the UAE and Tanzania in January 2025 for the inauguration of President John Mahama, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit.

He subsequently travelled to France and Ethiopia, followed by an extended working tour of France and the United Kingdom.

In May, he travelled to Vatican City for the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV.

He then made a historic state visit to Saint Lucia, followed by engagements in Brazil.

Further trips included Japan and Brazil for the TICAD9 summit and a state visit, followed by another working vacation in France and the United Kingdom from September 4 to 17.

He departed Lagos on December 28 for an end-of-year break in France, which continued into January 2026.

2026

Tinubu opened 2026 with an extended period abroad.

According to records, he spent 22 days abroad in January alone, including about 10 days in France as part of his year-end break, January 12–17 in the UAE for Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and January 26–31 in Türkiye for a state visit.

The Türkiye visit was Tinubu’s 47th foreign trip. He met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and signed nine agreements covering areas including trade, energy, media and higher education.

In March, Tinubu made a state visit to the United Kingdom, where he oversaw the signing of a £746m deal to modernise the Apapa and Tin Can ports.

In May, he embarked on another major international journey, visiting France, Kenya and Rwanda.

The State House said he departed Abuja on May 2 for France before proceeding to Nairobi for the Africa-France Summit.

He subsequently visited Kenya from May 11–13 for the Africa Forward Summit, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto, before travelling to Rwanda from May 13–16 for the Africa CEO Forum.

Remi Tinubu’s foreign trips gulp N700.7m in 1 year

Foreign-exchange records obtained from GovSpend also showed that $553,884 was released for overseas trips involving the First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu, between 2023 and 2024, covering visits to the United States, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and France.

The foreign-exchange purchases, made through the State House Headquarters Transit Account, were valued at N700.71 million at the exchange rates applied when the funds were purchased.

The records identify the destinations, stated trip dates, amounts of foreign exchange purchased, and corresponding naira values.

However, they do not indicate the purpose of each trip, the duration of the visits, the size of the delegations, or the overall cost of the trips beyond the foreign-exchange component.

The first recorded transaction was linked to a United States trip on March 11, 2023. State House Operations purchased $94,314 for the visit.

Although the trip was stated to have taken place in March, the payment was made on November 17, 2023, with the foreign exchange valued at N77,659,888.63.

In 2024, the records show four separate foreign-exchange transactions linked to overseas trips, amounting to $459,570.

The largest allocation was $152,831 for a trip to France scheduled for April 1, 2024. The transaction was paid on February 24, 2024, at a naira value of N149,794,284.71.

The records also show that $126,834 was purchased for a March 2024 trip to Mozambique. The transaction was paid on March 15, 2024, and was valued at N202,386,198.09.

On the same day, State House records listed $96,118 for a First Lady trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, stated to have taken place on September 2, 2024. The allocation was valued at N144,571,785.46.

Another $83,787 was purchased for a trip to London, United Kingdom, also recorded as a March 2024 visit. The transaction was paid on March 15, 2024, and had a naira value of N126,295,377.66.

Together, the four 2024 transactions amounted to $459,570, with a combined naira value of N623,047,645.92.

Adding the 2023 United States allocation of $94,314, the foreign exchange released for the five recorded overseas destinations came to $553,884, equivalent to N700,707,534.55 at the exchange rates applied to the individual transactions.

The records supplied contain no foreign-trip forex payments for 2025 and 2026.

This revelation comes amid concerns over expenditures by the First Lady’s office, despite not being captured in the country’s budgetary provisions.

Reacting to the report, the President and Convener of the Transparency and Accountability Group, Comrade Ayo Ologun, questioned the legal basis for funding official foreign travels by the First Lady, noting that the Office of the First Lady is not established by law.

Speaking with the media Ologun said the issue should not only be viewed from the perspective of whether financial rules were breached but also from the standpoint of protecting public resources.

“Because her office is not recognised by the law, and there is nothing like the office of the wife of the President, but because we have seemingly adapted to it as a people, by giving acknowledgement to an office that is not legally backed, if it is established that public money was spent on supposed official travels, the question should be: what is the duty?” he said.

According to him, public authorities have a responsibility not only to prevent financial violations but also to ensure that public resources are not depleted.

“They are also supposed to prevent the purse from being depleted. This is simply the depletion of our national commonwealth,” he said.

Ologun said that because the Office of the First Lady is not captured in the national budget, any public expenditure associated with it should be subjected to scrutiny.

“The office is not captured in our budget, because the office does not exist. So there is no way it could have a budget to legally pass by the National Assembly,” he said.

He added that if public funds were used for such activities, Nigerians should demand to know their source and the legal authority for the expenditure.

“Where did that amount of money come from? If it is spent on the wife of the President, that is abuse of power,” Ologun said.

He also questioned whether the funds could have been deployed to public infrastructure and other needs.

“If such an amount of money is spent unbudgeted, of course, like I keep emphasising, the office is not captured by our budgets,” he said.

Ologun called for an investigation into the expenditure and the legal basis for the use of public funds.

“The office of the President should not only be investigated, but should be tried by the provisions of the law,” he said.

He said Nigerians should not accept public expenditure associated with the First Lady without questioning its source and legal basis.

“This is a fact that, as a people, if you want to go forward, we must deal with,” Ologun said.

Atiku faults timing of Tinubu’s trip

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Tinubu for embarking on an overseas trip while the country is battling crisis on many fronts.

In a statement posted on his social media handles on Sunday, Atiku, Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), faulted the timing of the trip.

“Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership.”

“I have travelled, lived and spent time abroad, and I have never pretended otherwise. But there is a fundamental difference between the travels of a private citizen and the responsibility of the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury. Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week. And in the middle of all this, President Tinubu has packed his bags for three weeks in Europe.”

Atiku said the fact that Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who is currently attending the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) in Luanda, Angola, is on official duty abroad makes the President’s travel decision even more difficult to understand.

“Leadership is not merely the constitutional right to occupy an office; it is the judgment to know when your country needs you at home.”

“A father may travel when all is well. But when his roof is burning and his family is trapped inside, he does not pick up his suitcase and head for the airport.

“That is the issue here. It is not that a President must never rest or travel. It is that Nigeria is burning, and the President has chosen a boarding pass over the fire extinguisher.

“Millions of Nigerians are being grounded by hardship while their President is airborne. The people can barely afford to move, but the President keeps moving.

“A government that cannot feel the pain it inflicts will never summon the will to end it. Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again.”

Tinubu goes to refuel – Aide

Addressing journalists at the airport, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, said the vacation was well deserved, and it will allow the President to “refuel”.

Dare noted that after attending to state matters in the last few months and taking monumental decisions, the President deserves the vacation.

He said the President has been tackling issues relating to security and the economy.

“The President is proceeding on a well-deserved leave,” he told reporters.

He said with five to six months of campaigns on the horizon, “at this point, it’s important that the President also refuels.”

He said, “The President has had several months of being engaged with state matters. We’ve seen monumental changes, monumental decisions taken with our security, with our economy, and so many other things about the running of the affairs of this country.

“At this point, the campaign season has just started. We have four, five months of serious campaigning; of course, governance will continue.

“At this point, it’s important that the President also refuels and even though he’s going on leave, we know that he’ll be engaged with state matters on a daily basis.

“He will receive briefings from his ministers, from the service chiefs as the case may be, and from every other person who is handling very key decisions in our country.”

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Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Sunday evening visited his former principal, the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, at his residence in Port Harcourt.

The meeting was revealed by Lere Olayinka, the minister’s SSA on Media and Social Media,, in a post.

Fubara was accompanied by Dr Sam Sam Jaja during the visit to the residence of the former Rivers State governor.

The governor was received by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Rep Kingsley Chinda, and former governorship candidate, Senator Magnus Abe.