Sunday marked trip number 52. President Bola Tinubu departed Abuja for Europe on a three-week annual vacation, with London as his first stop, according to records of the journey.
Before that departure, official travel records and flight data showed Tinubu had spent approximately 261 days outside Nigeria across 51 trips, visiting at least 30 countries since taking office on May 29, 2023. That works out to nearly nine months abroad in just under three years in office, a pace that has drawn sustained scrutiny from civil society groups and opposition figures who argue the frequency undermines his ability to govern from home.
France has been his most frequent destination since assuming office, followed by London, according to the Daily Trust analysis of available travel data.
The year 2024 accounts for the largest share of the spending. GovSpend records show N25.27 billion was spent on travel-related expenses that year alone, driven largely by foreign exchange allocations and funding for the presidential air fleet. The scale of that single-year figure means it represents more than two-thirds of the total N37.6 billion recorded across the full period from June 2023 through April 2026.
Before that, N9.19 billion was recorded in the second half of 2023. The figure dropped to N2.71 billion in 2025, then N477.45 million between January and April 2026, according to the same records. The sharp decline in 2025 and into 2026 may reflect changes in how expenses were categorized or allocated rather than a reduction in travel activity, given that trip counts continued to rise.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, who spoke on Sunday before the departure, said Tinubu is expected back after the working vacation to “join the hectic campaign for the January 2027 elections.”
Separate foreign-exchange records from GovSpend show that $553,884, valued at N700.71 million at applicable exchange rates, was released for overseas trips involving First Lady Oluremi Tinubu between 2023 and 2024.
Those trips covered visits to the United States, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, and France, according to the GovSpend data cited in the Daily Trust report.
Ayo Ologun, president of the Transparency and Accountability Group, questioned the legal basis for spending public funds on those journeys. “Because her office is not recognized by the law,” Ologun said, “if it is established that public money was spent on supposed official travels, the question should be: what is the duty?”
He did not stop there. “If it is spent on the wife of the President, that is abuse of power,” Ologun added, calling for scrutiny and investigation into the expenditure. The position of First Lady carries no constitutional definition or statutory funding framework under Nigerian law, making the source and authorization of any travel spending difficult to trace through standard budget lines.
The Presidency has not responded to specific questions about the N37.6 billion figure or the legal framework governing First Lady travel funding, according to the Daily Trust report.
Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication Sunday Dare confirmed that Tinubu would remain in contact with members of his administration during the European trip, according to Politics Nigeria.
The three-week vacation follows a two-week break by Vice President Kashim Shettima, according to Daily Trust. No full itinerary for the European trip has been disclosed by the Presidency. The back-to-back absences of the president and vice president have prompted renewed calls from lawmakers and civil society organizations for greater transparency around executive travel schedules, costs, and the delegation of government functions during extended periods spent outside the country.
