Several ministries and agencies under the present administration of President Bola Tinubu, have spent no less than N1.8bn on air tickets, estacodes, and duty tour allowances between July and September 2024.
According to data sourced from GovSpend., some of the ministries and agencies include the Federal Ministries of Finance, Police Affairs, Youth Development, Women Affairs, Marine and Blue Economy, Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Others include the Technical Aid Corps, Ministries of Communications and Digital Economy, Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC).
Checks showed that the ministries and agencies spent N755,884,949.44 on Duty Tour Allowances and another N1,044,858,941.48 on estacodes and air tickets and foreign trips, totalling N1,800,743,930.92 spent between July and September 26, 2024.
Among the biggest spenders are the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, which spent N322m; the Ministry of Finance with a total spending of N187.2m; the ICPC with N150m; and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources with N108m all in the space of three months.
Recall that the President, Bola Tinubu, had placed a 3-month ban on publicly-funded trips for Ministers and Heads of agencies beginning April 1 2024, in a letter dated March 2 2024, from the Office of the President’s Chief of Staff. The letter explained that the ban aimed to reduce the rise in expenses incurred by MDAs on international travel and ensure that the ministers and heads of agencies were focused on their respective mandates.
While the ban period has elapsed, it was discovered that some ministries incurred as much as N21m in expenses for travel tickets and estacodes within days.
Speaking on the development, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, (CISKAC) Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, lamented that the travels had not attracted needed foreign direct investments to the country.
When contacted, the Director of Information and Public Relations for the Ministry of Finance, Mohammed Manga, could also not be reached as his phone was switched off, while the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Olujimi Oyetomi, declined calls and messages sent to his phone.
