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Details of how Presidency spent N37.6bn on trips
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.”
Nigeria and Italy have strengthened collaboration on a campaign to mobilise $5bn for education financing worldwide through the Global Partnership for Education.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the collaboration was highlighted at the “Multiply Possibility: A New Era for Education Financing” high-level event held in New York, United States, on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The statement said President Bola Tinubu, in a video message to the event, noted that the GPE vision aligned with his administration’s agenda of improving educational outcomes by investing in access and capacity building for teachers.
The President also commended stakeholders in the GPE for their efforts towards accelerating education financing globally. Representing the President at the gathering, Vice President Kashim Shettima said education was an investment in Nigeria’s economic future, productivity, prosperity and stability.
He said, “For Nigeria, education is not an expenditure at the margins of our development agenda. It is an investment in our economic future, national productivity, and the prosperity and stability of our people.
“Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in 2023, our Administration has substantially increased resources devoted to education, while pursuing reforms to strengthen basic education financing, expand foundational learning, and improve access to tertiary and technical education.
“Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, we are widening access to higher education, while strengthening the link between education, skills, employment and enterprise.”
Shettima said Nigeria was looking beyond traditional budgetary allocations, noting that Tinubu had directed that liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, once legally cleared and free from litigation, be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
The VP said the Federal Executive Council had also recently approved the consideration of unclaimed dividends and dormant funds for the same purpose, subject to relevant legal requirements.
He said this demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to mobilising every responsible and lawful domestic source to finance education.
Citing Nigeria’s partnership with the World Bank and GPE through HOPE-EDU, Shettima said, “The programme is expected to reach approximately 29 million children and 500,000 teachers across Nigeria.”
He added: “This is precisely why GPE matters. GPE does not replace national investment; it multiplies it. The ambition before us is to mobilise US$5 billion for GPE and, through that investment, unlock additional financing for education in partner countries.
“Domestic resources must remain the anchor, complemented by development assistance, concessional finance, philanthropy and innovative financing.”
The Vice President said Nigeria’s growing population could become one of its greatest economic assets if its “young people have access to quality education, relevant skills and meaningful opportunities.”
He said the response to declining global aid “must therefore be smarter multilateralism: using scarce international resources to leverage much larger investments.”
Shettima urged participants to ensure that the initiative was not merely a fundraising exercise but “a renewed compact for human capital, bringing together national leadership, international partnership and responsible financing so that every child has the opportunity to learn, thrive and contribute to their country’s future.”
He also expressed Nigeria’s appreciation to the Italian government and GPE for joining the campaign, stressing that Nigeria was participating not merely to seek greater international investment but “to demonstrate that we are investing in education ourselves.”
Earlier, Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, praised Tinubu’s leadership and Nigeria’s determination to improve educational outcomes across all levels.
She urged partners in the global alliance to show greater commitment to reversing the trend in developing countries.
The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, thanked partners for their interest in improving education financing in developing countries.
She called on international financial institutions to support committed countries in finding the fiscal space needed to improve educational outcomes, including capacity building for teachers.
Also speaking, the Chair of the Board of Directors of GPE, Jakaya Kikwete, underscored the need to accelerate education financing, noting that education remained central to human rights, security and peace.
Girls’ education activist, Malala Yousafzai, also called for greater collaboration in ideas and resources, urging governments and multilateral organisations to commit more resources towards gender equality in education.
The statement said governments and donors at the event made contributions towards the education of at least 370 million children globally, while the Italian government pledged €50m for GPE programmes and interventions.
Emmanuel Adeyemi, media aide to the immediate-past Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has faulted the misinterpretation of his principal’s remarks on the payment of N1m fees by students of public universities in The PUNCH interview on Tuesday.
A flurry of reactions has trailed excerpts of the interview widely circulated across social media.
In a statement on Wednesday, Adeyemi said Olatunji-Bello did not suggest that students or their parents must pay N1m annually for university education.
He urged the public, media and education stakeholders to consider Olatunji-Bello’s complete remarks rather than isolated portions that, he said, could give a different impression of her position.
He explained that the former VC was speaking about the estimated cost of providing quality undergraduate education, while advocating innovative and diversified funding sources for universities.
According to Adeyemi, Olatunji-Bello’s remarks were made against the backdrop of the desire of Nigerians for university education comparable in quality to what is obtainable in other parts of the world.
He said the former VC had noted that delivering such quality education costs approximately N1m per student annually.
Adeyemi, however, stressed that Olatunji-Bello did not suggest that the entire cost should be transferred to students or their parents.
He said, “The immediate-past Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has been widely quoted across social media as saying that students must pay N1m in fees for public universities to achieve self-sustainability.
“Distinguished Professor Olatunji-Bello’s remarks were made against the backdrop of Nigerians’ legitimate aspiration for university education that is genuinely comparable in quality to what is obtainable in other parts of the world, a standard that stands in sharp contrast to the comparatively low tuition fees currently charged by public universities in Nigeria.
“Her central argument was that delivering the quality of undergraduate education Nigerians rightly desire costs, on average, approximately N1m per student annually.
“Crucially, however, she did not suggest that this cost must necessarily be transferred wholesale onto students or their parents.”
Adeyemi said the remarks, when read in their entirety, reflected Olatunji-Bello’s call for universities to pursue innovation and develop diversified revenue streams to achieve financial sustainability.
He added, “This is precisely why, in response to the interview question on institutional self-sustainability, she began by stating: ‘Universities can achieve financial self-sustainability. If they can innovate and ensure improvements in the institution, money will come in.
“She went on to add: ‘I enjoin parents to ensure their children are well-educated by prioritising their fees. Good quality education needs money.’”
Adeyemi said the ex-VC’s position reflected a broader call for universities to pursue innovation and diversified revenue streams as the primary pathway to financial sustainability, while also reminding parents of the genuine cost implications of quality education and encouraging shared responsibility rather than assigning that burden to any single party.
He said the former VC sought to remind parents of the cost implications of quality education and encourage shared responsibility for funding university education.
“We urge members of the public, the media, and stakeholders in the education sector to engage with Distinguished Professor Olatunji-Bello’s complete remarks in their proper context, rather than isolated soundbites that do not accurately reflect the full weight and intent of her position,” he added.
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has directed the commencement of payment of outstanding gratuity to retired civil servants from 2012 to 2016.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Auwal Jatau, announced this on Wednesday, saying the exercise would commence with the first batch of beneficiaries, while subsequent payments would be made until all eligible retirees had received their entitlements.
Mohammed said the state government had committed N10bn towards addressing the accumulated gratuity obligations owed to retirees.
He explained that the validated historical records showed that the total outstanding obligations for the period amounted to N11.71bn, comprising liabilities owed to state and local government retirees.
According to him, the state component involves 3,570 beneficiaries with obligations amounting to N6.13bn, while the local government component covers 2,262 beneficiaries with outstanding obligations of N5.58bn.
The governor said the payment would be implemented progressively based on the chronology of outstanding obligations, completeness of supporting records, validation and reconciliation processes, as well as the resources approved for each phase.
He said, “No eligible pensioner should interpret this first phase as an exclusion. We are beginning from defined historical brackets so that government can process systematically and transparently.
“We are starting here, but we are not stopping here. The validated historical records before government cover the accumulated obligations.”
Mohammed noted that many retired workers had waited for more than a decade to receive their gratuity, describing the backlog as one of the most challenging issues inherited by his administration.
He said, “Today, we say to you, your wait is finally coming to an end. Acknowledging the plight of our senior citizens, when we talk about monthly living, there should be dignity.
“It is a systemic injustice when, after finishing years of service, you are unable to receive your hard-earned entitlement. Sadly, we have lost some of our colleagues along the way without them tasting the fruit of their labour.”
The governor said the government recognised the contributions of retirees who spent decades building the state’s infrastructure, schools, healthcare system and administrative machinery.
He added that the government had established the Bauchi State Contributory Pension Scheme to strengthen the management of pension-related matters, including data validation, verification and reconciliation.
Mohammed directed the relevant committee and officials overseeing the exercise to ensure transparency, speed and fairness in the disbursement.
He said there should be no bureaucratic bottlenecks during the verification process and directed that senior citizens should be given priority and treated with dignity.
The governor said the payment was not merely a financial intervention but a demonstration of the government’s commitment to addressing inherited obligations and improving the welfare of retirees.
He urged beneficiaries to provide the necessary documentation, cooperate with the verification process and use the payments prudently to support themselves and their families.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Abubakar Sulaiman, said the legislature unanimously approved the release of funds for the payment of the outstanding gratuity.
Sulaiman said the House had remained concerned about the hardship faced by retirees as a result of the accumulated backlog.
He said, “The commencement of this month’s payment of gratuity is an important step towards addressing a long-standing obligation to the men and women who devoted their productive years to the service and development of our dear state.
“The House has demonstrated its commitment through concrete legislative action by approving the request of the government to secure the necessary financing for the settlement of outstanding gratuity.”
The Speaker said the House approved the measure because gratuity was an entitlement earned through years of dedicated service and should not be regarded as a favour to retired workers.
He commended Governor Bala Mohammed for responding to the resolutions of the House and demonstrating political will towards addressing the longstanding liability.
Sulaiman said the exercise was expected to commence with about 1,700 retirees across the state.
He assured retirees that the House would continue to provide legislative support and oversight to ensure that the welfare and legitimate entitlements of workers and pensioners received adequate attention.
Nigeria, Italy lead $5bn global education financing campaign
Ex-LASU VC’s N1m fee remark misinterpreted – Spokesperson
Bauchi begins N10bn gratuity backlog payment
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