An investigation by SaharaReporters, utilising the public payments portal, reveals that President Bola Tinubu’s trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the African Union summit came with a hefty price tag of N1.041 billion, sparking concerns over excessive spending on international travel.
The trip was made in February 2024.
Records show that on February 9, 2024, $692,265 was purchased with over N1.041 billion “for Mr President’s trip to Ethiopia”.
This development comes amid calls for a reduction in the cost of governance.
In a related development, between February 24 and March 15, 2024, the Presidency recorded N650 million for “presidential honorarium and transportation”.
This means that in 21 days, the Presidential honorarium cost the country N650 million.
An honorarium is a payment made as a gesture of appreciation for services rendered, where no fee is legally or customarily expected. It’s a voluntary expression of gratitude, rather than a mandatory compensation.
In January 2024, it was reported that the President cut his travel delegations by 60 percent to reduce the cost of governance, so it remains unclear how much the country would have incurred for the Ethiopian trip assuming that the delegation had not been reduced by 40 percent.
SaharaReporters earlier noted how the administration of Tinubu spent N473 million on the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s to Mozambique, United Kingdom and Ethiopia.
The country’s low revenue generation has sparked widespread concern and scrutiny, with many calling for improved fiscal management and strategies to boost economic growth.
The organised labour recently demanded an increase in the minimum wage, a development that has continued to trigger disagreements in the country with the government saying it is unable to pay due to paucity of funds.
SaharaReporters has exposed the Tinubu administration’s non-compliance with legal requirements by failing to publish quarterly budget performance reports, thereby denying citizens the right to access crucial information on government expenditures and undermining transparency and accountability in public financial management.