President Bola Tinubu has slashed the amount of money spent on official travel, both within the country and internationally, by 60%.
When traveling abroad, the president will be accompanied by 20 people, while the Vice President and the First Lady will each have five people with them.
For domestic trips, the president will have 25 people accompanying him, the Vice President will have 15, and the First Lady will have 10.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, informed State House Correspondents about this new development.
He explained that President Tinubu has approved a significant cost-cutting initiative that will affect the entire federal government of Nigeria, including the offices of the president, the Vice President, and the First Lady.
According to the presidential media aide, there will be significant cost reductions for official trips within the country involving the President or the Vice President. This is because the President has given a directive to reduce the high expenses related to allowances and estacode for security details traveling from Abuja to other states.
The media aide mentioned that the security agencies within the states, such as the police, DSS, or military branches, will take the lead in providing protection when the President or Vice President visits those states. This is a major initiative to cut costs and will also apply to the Office of the Vice President and the office of the First Lady.
Ngelale also mentioned that there are certain restrictions in place for ministers of the Federation when it comes to international travel. Specifically, they are only allowed to bring along four members of their staff, appointees, or similar individuals when going on an official trip.
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“For heads of agency, that will be limited to two members of staff allowed to travel on an official trip. Furthermore, the numbers that the President has now approved for official travel with him that will apply to his principal staff are as follows: on international trips the president has directed that no more than 20 individuals be allowed to travel with him.
“That number will be cut down to five in the case of the First Lady. Additionally, the number in the entourage on official international trips for the Vice President will be cut to five, the number that will be placed as a limit on the wife of the Vice President is also five.
He said that, in terms of local excursions, the President has set a new limit of 25 staff personnel to accompany him on domestic trips within the country.
He revealed that the First Lady’s Office is now limited to ten staff members who accompany her on official tours around the country. The Vice President will be restricted to 15 members of staff on official visits within the nation, while his wife will be limited to 10 members of staff on official trips within the country, much as the first lady.
His words, “It is pertinent to note that there is a difference between the number of members of staff allowed to travel with the presiding officials to international trips and those that are allowed for domestic. You will find that the numbers on international trips are less than those allowed on domestic trips. This is because international trips are far more expensive across the board and the President is determined to bring total sanity and prudence to the management of the Commonwealth of our people.
“As a result of this, the President has directed that every federal MDA also including the office of the president itself and the Office of the Vice President as well as the offices of the first and Second Ladies, are affected and bound by this directive of the president.
“Henceforth, the President is insistent that the notion of government wastage, the notion of recurrent expenditure being in excess, the notion that government officials will be allowed to conduct their affairs in a way that is different from what we are asking of Nigerian citizens with respect to prudence and cost management, those days are over.
“The President is insistent that the prudence of government officials must reflect the prudence and efficiency of Nigerian citizens and this is the directive of the President. Thank you very much.”
When asked if the new direction on limits will come in the form of an executive order, Ajuri said, “With respect to the adherence to this most recent directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I believe we do not need to convince the officers of the federal government of Nigeria of the seriousness of the president with respect to how he will implement his directives.
“If there is anybody who feels that the directive of the President is not binding on them and who feels that the President will not uphold this directive in implementation and seeks to test it, they will do so at their own peril.”
