President Bola Tinubu has announced a temporary suspension on all public funded foreign trips for ministers, heads of agencies, and other government officials starting from April 1st, 2024, lasting for three months.
Tinubu emphasised the requirement for government officials planning to undertake any publicly funded international trips to first obtain presidential approval at least two weeks in advance. Such trips must be considered as essential in order to proceed.
With soaring inflation, high cost of living and economic sufferings occasioned by the removal of petrol subsidy, many Nigerians had berated the government for being “insensitive” to their plight, saying that the Tinubu administration should lead by example and cut the cost of governance.
However, the President said the suspension of government officials from foreign trips was part of his administration’s cost reduction, with an intention to make all heads of MDAs “focus on effective service delivery, especially with regards to the mandates assigned to them”.
