With effect from April 1, 2024, ministers, heads of agencies, and other federal government officials are barred from travelling abroad using public funds for the next three months in the first instance.
President Bola Tinubu gave the directive in a letter dated March 12, 2024, signed by the Chief of Staff to the President and addressed to Sen. George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Persecondnews recalls that Tinubu had issued an order in January to cut down on the number of persons travelling with him both domestically and abroad, specifying that the members of his delegation should not be more than 20 for overseas travel and 20 for domestic travel.
Additionally, he insisted on being protected by security officers at his location rather than having numerous Abuja-based security personnel accompany him.
This followed the criticism he received both during and after the most recent Conference of Parties (COP28), which was held in the United Arab Emirates and was attended by roughly 590 officials from Nigeria.
In response to the public outcry, the administration stated that only 422 of the delegation’s 590 members received funds.
The letter indicating the ban states in part: “Mr President has concerns about the rising cost of travel expenses borne by Ministries, Department and Agencies of Government as well as the growing need for cabinet members and heads of MDAs to focus on their respective mandates for effective service delivery.
“Considering the current economic challenges and the need for responsible fiscal management, I am writing to communicate Mr Presideni’s directive to place a temporary ban on all public funded international trips for all Federal Government officials at all levels, for an initial period of three months from Ist April 2024.”
The ban, according to the letter, was aimed at reducing costs in governance.
“This temporary measure is aimed at cost reduction in governance and intended as a cost-saving measure without compromising government functions.”
Tinubu added that government officials who intend to go on any public funded foreign trip must seek and get presidential approval at least two weeks before embarking on any such trip which must be ‘deemed absolutely necessary’.
“All government officials who intend to go on any public funded international trips must seek and obtain Presidential approval at least two weeks prior to embarking on any such trip, which must be deemed absolutely necessary,” it said.
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