A new report has claimed that the sum of ₦701 million was spent by the Federal Government to fund foreign trips of the First Lady, Sen Oluremi Tinubu in the span of three months.
Recall that in 2023, the Federal Government allocated ₦1.5bn for the procurement of vehicles for the Office of the First Lady.
The budgetary allocation was outlined in the ₦2.1tn supplementary budget for 2023 approved by the National Assembly.
A breakdown of the budget shows the government planned to spend ₦2.9bn on sport utility vehicles for the Presidential Villa and another ₦2.9bn to replace operational vehicles for the Presidency.
Former Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, however, claimed that the ₦1.5bn budgeted for vehicles was for the Presidency and not for the First Lady’s office.
However, a report by Punch showed that the government paid out the sum of ₦700,707,532 over three months for the First Lady’s foreign trips to five countries, including two African nations.
The publication confirmed the development using GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses Federal Government’s spending,
On November 17, 2023, the government, through the State House headquarters transit account, released the sum of ₦77,659,888 for the purchase of foreign exchange ($94,314) for the First Lady’s trip to the United States.
On February 24, 2024, the government, through the State House headquarters transit account, paid the sum of ₦149,794,284 for the purchase of foreign exchange ($152,831) for the First Lady’s trip to France on January 4, 2024.
On March 15, 2024, the sum of ₦202,386,198 was also paid by the government through the State House account for the purchase of foreign exchange ($126,834) for the First Lady’s trip to Mozambique that month.
On the same day, the government paid ₦144,571,785 for the purchase of foreign exchange ($96,118) for the First Lady’s trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 9, 2024.
The government, through the same State House account, paid out the sum of ₦126,295,377 for the purchase of foreign exchange ($83,967) for the First Lady’s trip to London that month.
Additionally, the government spent a total sum of ₦314,231,472 on six programmes of the First Lady within four months.
On May 24, 2024, Rock of Ages Total Events Centre Ltd received the sum of ₦131,921,786 for full-scale decoration of State House events for the First Lady’s programmes for women, youth, and children.
On May 29, 2024, the State House paid ₦107,630,000 to Makeway Nigeria Limited for the provision of multimedia and related services during the First Lady’s programmes for women, youth, and children.
This indicates that a total sum of ₦1,014,939,004 has been spent by the government on the First Lady’s trips and programmes over seven months altogether.