Despite complaints by Nigerians and a critical editorial by one of Nigeria’s most widely read newspapers, Punch Newspaper, President Muhammadu Buhari
Despite complaints by Nigerians and a critical editorial by one of Nigeria’s most widely read newspapers, Punch Newspaper, President Muhammadu Buhari has chosen to continue his frequent foreign trips. In its editorial, Punch newspaper stated that “In moments of national crisis, he (Buhari) abandons his duty post in preference for foreign trips of dubious value.”
The president jets out to Saudi Arabia today for a three-day official assignment. He will attend the third edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) organised by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) followed by a two-day personal religious act, his office said on Sunday.
According to Premium Times, reliable sources at the presidency said that after the president returns on Saturday, he will, days later, proceed on a vacation to the UK for about 10 days. The UK trip is yet to be officially announced.
Unfortunately, each time Buhari goes on these trips, he is accompanied by a retinue of public officials, all at the expense of the Nigerian people. The total cost and expenditure on each of these trips are never made public.
On the four trips Buhari embarked on in the past three months, he was accompanied by a total of 12 state governors alongside ministers, designated special advisers, and other travel aides. According to the 2020 budget proposal, Buhari’s foreign trips for the year will cost N1.75 billion, a significant increase from the N1 billion budgeted for the same purpose in 2019. Conversely, local trips are estimated to cost N775.6 million in 2020.
During the trip to Russia, he was accompanied by Governors Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe State, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State. Others on the trip were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite and Minister of State, Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.
On the New York trip, Governors Abdullahi Sule, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and Adegboyega Oyetola of Nasarawa, Kebbi and Osun States respectively accompanied the president. Others were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmoud; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; and Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire
Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje; Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong; and Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, accompanied Mr Buhari on the trip to South Africa.
On the trip to Japan, Mr Buhari was accompanied by Governors Babagana Zulum, AbdulRaham AbdulRazaq and Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Borno, Kwara and Lagos states respectively. There were also ministers and other top government officials on the trip.
For today’s trip to Saudi Arabia, the president will be accompanied by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State and Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State. Also on the entourage are the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; Minister of Communications, Ibrahim Pantami; the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno; Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Abubakar; and the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari.
The presidency does not list the retinue of domestic aides who accompany the president on such trips, including photographers, protocol officers, security officers, various media aides and so on.
