President Bola Tinubu has now spent roughly 261 days outside Nigeria since taking office in May 2023, with new expenditure data showing the Presidency has spent more than ₦37.64 billion on presidential travel and related costs.
The figures, drawn from an analysis by accountability platform GovSpend, cover spending between June 2023 and April 2026 and come as Tinubu began a fresh three-week vacation in Europe on Sunday, starting in London.
The trip is his 52nd foreign outing since assuming office. His spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said the President would return to Nigeria afterward to join preparations for the 2027 general election. The Presidency has not released a full itinerary for the holiday.
How the spending breaks down
GovSpend’s analysis puts total travel-related expenditure at ₦37,639,227,853.51, split as follows:
- June–December 2023: ₦9.19 billion
- 2024: ₦25.27 billion
- 2025: ₦2.71 billion
- January–April 2026: ₦477.45 million
2024 accounted for the bulk of the spending, driven largely by foreign exchange allocations and funding for the Presidential Air Fleet. Early records show payments running from tens of millions to billions of naira for trips, forex transit funding, and flight logistics — including a ₦114.24 million payment to Hinterland Travel & Tours Limited for flight tickets in late 2023.
261 days, 30 countries
Before this latest trip, Tinubu had made 51 foreign visits to at least 30 countries. France has been his most-visited destination, followed by the United Kingdom, with the UAE also featuring heavily.
His travels have spanned AU and G20 summits, UN General Assembly sessions, state visits, and working vacations — from Paris in June 2023 through to Kenya and Rwanda in May 2026, where he attended the Africa Forward Summit and Africa CEO Forum.
Presidency defends the break
Speaking at the airport, Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication Sunday Dare defended the trip, describing it as a chance for Tinubu to “refuel” before the intense campaign season ahead of 2027.
“The President is proceeding on a well-deserved leave,” Dare said, noting that Tinubu would still receive daily briefings from ministers and security chiefs while away.
“At this point, the campaign season has just started. We have four, five months of serious campaigning; of course, governance will continue,” he added.
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