At least ₦34.39bn was spent by the Presidency on foreign exchange purchases for international travel and related official obligations between 2024 and 2025, according to data compiled from GovSpend, the public expenditure tracking platform managed by BudgIT.
The records, covering transactions by the State House, the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF), the Office of the Chief of Staff, and activities linked to the President, Vice-President, First Lady and their aides, show that the bulk of the spending occurred in 2024, with a significant drop recorded the following year.
An analysis of the data shows that ₦29.35bn was spent on forex purchases in 2024, while ₦5.04bn was recorded in 2025 — a year-on-year decline of 82.8%.
The forex purchases were largely tied to official overseas trips, aviation logistics, estacodes, training programmes and other international engagements involving top government officials. While the Presidency maintains that such trips are essential for diplomacy, investment drives and bilateral cooperation, the scale of the spending has attracted attention in light of Nigeria’s economic challenges and foreign exchange pressures.
A major contributor to the 2024 outlay was the Presidential Air Fleet, which is responsible for transporting the President, Vice-President and other senior officials. The fleet’s forex transactions were described as “presidential air fleet forex transit funds”.
Between March and May 2024, the PAF recorded repeated purchases of about ₦1.27bn on March 7, March 9, April 6, May 11 and May 25. Larger tranches were also recorded, including ₦5.08bn on April 23 and ₦2.43bn on May 8. Additional aviation-related payments followed in July and August, including transfers of ₦1.25bn, ₦2.21bn, ₦1.24bn and ₦902.9m, further pushing up the air fleet’s forex bill.
Beyond aviation, the State House Headquarters recorded several forex transactions directly linked to specific trips by the President, Vice_President and First Lady.
In February 2024 alone, over ₦2.5bn was spent on forex purchases for official travel. These included ₦426.88m for the Vice-President’s trip to Switzerland, ₦1.04bn for the President’s visit to Ethiopia, ₦750m for a trip to Dubai, ₦176.77m for Côte d’Ivoire, N149.79m for the First Lady’s trip to France, and ₦86.76m for another vice-presidential trip to Liberia. March also saw notable spending, including ₦202.39m for the First Lady’s trip to Mozambique, ₦144.57m for Addis Ababa, and ₦126.30m for London. The Vice-President’s engagements added ₦201.12m for Côte d’Ivoire and ₦169.54m for estacodes tied to UK and US training programmes.
Forex purchases intensified from July. However, the spending pattern changed sharply in 2025. Total forex purchases for the year stood at ₦5.04bn, reflecting a substantial reduction. Transactions were generally smaller and less frequent, suggesting efforts to curb forex outflows.
By the second half of the year, spending had tapered further, with August transactions as low as ₦7.67m and ₦11.14m, while November and December recorded modest payments by the Office of the Chief of Staff and the Air Fleet.
The reduction coincided with relative stability in the foreign exchange market in 2025, following reforms that improved dollar inflows and eased pressure on the naira.
Overall, the data reflect a sharp contrast between the two years, and have renewed attention on the cost implications of official travel, particularly during periods of economic strain.
