Nigeria’s President Tinubu Exceeds Travel Budget, Spends US$3.5m In 6 Months

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu spent 3.4bn naira (US$3.5million; £2.7million) on domestic and foreign travel during his first six months in office, local reports say, citing data from the GovSpend portal.

The spending means President Tinubu and his team exceeded the 2.49bn naira travel budget allocated for the entirety of 2023 by 36%, the privately owned Nigerian newspaper The Punch reports.

The Punch said that although the president inherited the budget halfway through 2023, “he spent more than what was apportioned for the whole year between June and December 2023”.

The reports, which have not been verified by the BBC, come nearly a week after President Tinubu capped the number of aides allowed to accompany him abroad.

Prior to this move, he had been criticised for incurring travel expenses that some Nigerians deem to be excessive.

Most notably, Mr Tinubu came under fire after his government sponsored over 400 people to attend last year’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

The privately run GovSpend portal collates official data from Nigeria’s treasury.

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