HomeHeadlinenewsTuggar defends Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, says Nigeria has money

Tuggar defends Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, says Nigeria has money

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has said Nigeria is rich enough to fund the frequent foreign trips embarked upon by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since assumption of office.

The Minister said the President does not travel as much as he should, as he needs to interact with Presidents of other nations.

Some Nigerians are agitated that the President is traveling from country to country, wasting taxpayer money all in the name of luring investors to Nigeria.

Since assuming office in 2023, Tinubu has reportedly visited about 19 countries on 32 foreign trips.

As of August 2024, 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.

However, while appearing on Channels Television Politics Today, the minister validated the president’s action.

He said Tinubu, contrary to the complaints, even needed to embark on more trips because of its strategic importance and inherent benefits to the country.

 

The minister noted that Tinubu could only strengthen ties with fellow global leaders in his quest to set the country on the right path.

He said, “It is not a fair assessment. The administration is still new because the President was sworn in in 2023. In global terms, he is still a new president. He needs to interact with his colleagues and fellow heads of state to be able to establish relationships.

“You can further see the fruits of these trips and their benefits which attracted $2bn (worth) of investments like he did in Brazil. In fact, I would venture to say we are not travelling enough. We should do more.”

Tuggar disagreed Nigeria did not have the money required for such frequent trips.

“Nigeria has the money. How much does travelling cost compared to the benefits? Again, how much does it cost really when you compare it to some of the things that the President has already addressed?

“How much have we wasted on fuel, electricity and other subsidies? He was subsidising consumption instead of production and subsidising the real sector of the

economy,” he added.

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