The administration of President Bola Tinubu incurred more than N37.6 billion in expenses related to presidential travels between June 2023 and April 2026, an analysis of government spending records has revealed.
The expenditure comprised presidential trips, foreign exchange purchases, logistics and other activities associated with official movements documented by the State House during the period.
The figures were obtained from GovSpend, a public accountability platform that tracks government expenditure.
The latest figures come as Tinubu embarked on another overseas trip for a three-week annual vacation.
The President departed Abuja on Sunday for Europe, beginning his journey in London, United Kingdom. The Presidency said the trip is a working vacation during which Tinubu will remain abreast of major developments and continue to receive updates on matters of state.
With the latest trip, Tinubu’s foreign journeys since assuming office in May 2023 have risen to 52, according to available records.
Prior to his latest departure, the President had spent approximately 261 days outside Nigeria during 51 foreign trips, travelling to at least 30 countries.
Government records indicate that presidential travel expenditure peaked in 2024, when the State House recorded expenses of N25.27 billion.
The Presidency spent N9.19 billion on similar expenses in the second half of 2023, while the amount dropped to N2.71 billion in 2025. Between January and April 2026, a further N477.45 million was recorded.
The total expenditure stood at N37,639,227,853.51.
Foreign exchange transactions and expenses involving the Presidential Air Fleet accounted for a substantial share of the spending.
During the early period of Tinubu’s administration, the records contained several high-value transactions linked to presidential movements and aircraft-related needs.
For example, on June 23, 2023, payments totalling more than N150 million were recorded under the description “presidential trips and other related expenses.”
In July, the Presidential Air Fleet received N846.03 million and N674.82 million in foreign exchange transit funding.
More foreign exchange transactions followed in August, including N152.37 million for $200,000, N228.55 million for $300,000 and N146.65 million for $315,300. The records also contained another N250 million payment classified as a travel-related expense.
During the same month, the Presidential Air Fleet received additional foreign exchange funding of N2 billion and N713.22 million.
In September, four individual transactions of N197.69 million each were recorded in relation to $1 million allocations for presidential trips.
The expenditure further covered payments made to travel agencies. Between November and December 2023, Hinterland Travel & Tours Limited received N114.24 million for flight tickets.
The scale of the expenditure came amid Tinubu’s busy international itinerary, which has involved diplomatic engagements, global conferences, state visits, investment-related meetings and private holidays.
Tinubu’s first foreign journey as President was to Paris in June 2023, where he attended the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact.
His subsequent international engagements took him across Africa and to countries including India, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
Among the major events he attended were the United Nations General Assembly in New York, G20-related meetings in India, the G20 Compact with Africa conference in Germany and the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.
The President’s foreign travel schedule expanded in 2024, with visits to France, Ethiopia, Qatar, Senegal, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Chad, South Africa, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, China and the United Kingdom.
His 2025 itinerary included trips to Ghana, the UAE, Tanzania, France, Ethiopia, Vatican City, Saint Lucia, Brazil and Japan.
Tinubu also undertook several international journeys in 2026, visiting the UAE, Türkiye, the UK, France, Kenya and Rwanda.
During his January 2026 visit to Türkiye, where he held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Nigeria and Türkiye entered into nine agreements covering areas such as trade, energy, media and higher education.
A subsequent visit to the UK in March featured the signing of a £746 million agreement aimed at modernising the Apapa and Tin Can ports.
In May, Tinubu travelled to France, Kenya and Rwanda for several international engagements, including the Africa-France Summit, the Africa Forward Summit and the Africa CEO Forum.
The Presidency has defended the President’s latest holiday, maintaining that his departure from Nigeria does not prevent him from following developments at home.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said Tinubu would remain in communication with members of his administration and continue receiving briefings while abroad.
“Even though he’s going on leave, we know that he’ll be engaged with state matters on a daily basis. He will receive briefings from his ministers, from the service chiefs as the case may be, and from every other person who is handling very key decisions in our country,” Dare said.
Dare said Tinubu had devoted months to handling significant national issues and deserved time away before political activities linked to the 2027 election intensified.
“The President is proceeding on a well-deserved leave,” he said.
He explained that the months ahead would be more demanding as the country moves deeper into the election period.
“At this point, the campaign season has just started. We have four, five months of serious campaigning; of course, governance will continue,” Dare said.
“At this point, it’s important that the President also refuels.”
Earlier, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga disclosed that London would be Tinubu’s first destination and said the President would return to Nigeria after the working vacation to take part in the campaign ahead of the 2027 election.
“President Tinubu is expected to return home after the working vacation to join the hectic campaign for the January 2027 election,” Onanuga said.
However, Tinubu’s frequency of foreign travel has continued to draw criticism, particularly over the financial implications of presidential movements amid the economic pressures confronting Nigerians.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar criticised the President’s latest trip, saying Tinubu should instead concentrate on the problems facing the country.
Atiku cited high petrol prices, food insecurity, increasing transport costs and insecurity as challenges confronting Nigerians while the President was travelling outside the country.
“Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership,” he said.
He added, “Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury. Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week. And in the middle of all this, President Tinubu has packed his bags for three weeks in Europe.”
Atiku also questioned the decision to travel at a time when Vice President Kashim Shettima was outside Nigeria on official engagements.
“Leadership is not merely the constitutional right to occupy an office; it is the judgment to know when your country needs you at home,” he said.
“A father may travel when all is well. But when his roof is burning and his family is trapped inside, he does not pick up his suitcase and head for the airport.”
The former Vice President further said, “Millions of Nigerians are being grounded by hardship while their President is airborne. The people can barely afford to move, but the President keeps moving.”
The expenditure records also revealed foreign travel-related spending involving the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu.
Between 2023 and 2024, records showed that $553,884 was purchased for overseas trips involving the First Lady, with the transactions valued at N700.71 million based on the exchange rates applicable at the time.
The destinations identified in the records included the United States, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and France.
However, the records do not provide enough information to determine the full cost of the journeys, as they do not specify delegation sizes, the length of each trip or other related expenses.
In March 2023, $94,314 was allocated for a trip to the United States, although the payment was processed in November of that year and had a value of N77.66 million.
Four additional transactions recorded in 2024 brought the total foreign exchange purchased for the documented trips that year to $459,570.
The biggest 2024 allocation was $152,831 for France, which was valued at N149.79 million. Other transactions covered $126,834 for Mozambique, $96,118 for Ethiopia and $83,787 for London.
