Despite Criticisms, Buhari, Osinbajo To Spend N3.23bn On Local, Foreign Trips Next Year

Despite complaints by Nigerians and criticisms on the amount spent on foreign travels, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo are to spend the sum of N3.23bn on local and foreign trips in the 2021 fiscal period.

Details of the amount to be spent by the President and his Vice are contained in the 2021 budget proposal which was submitted to a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.

In the detailed budget proposal which was obtained by THE WHISTLER, the President is planning to spend the sum of N2.42bn on local and foreign trips, while the sum of N801.03m has been proposed for Osibanjo for the same purpose.

A breakdown of the N2.42bn proposal showed that the sum of N1.65bn is to be spent by Buhari on International travels and transport while the balance of N775.6m would go for local travels and transports.

For Osinbajo, out of the proposed amount of N801.03m, about N517m is to be spent on foreign trips while the balance of N283.97m is to be used for domestic trips.

The President had presented the 2021 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly with aggregate expenditure of N13.08trn.

For 2021, the President said the proposed N13.08trn expenditure comprises Capital Expenditure of N3.85trn, Non-debt Recurrent Costs of N5.65trn; Personnel Costs of N3.76trn; Pensions, Gratuities and Retirees’ Benefits of N501.19bn; Overheads of N625.5bn; Debt Service of N3.124trn; Statutory Transfers of N484.49bn; and Sinking Fund of N220bn to retire certain maturing bonds).

The President said the 2021 Budget deficit inclusive of Government Owned Enterprises and project-tied loans is projected at N5.2trn, adding that this represents 3.64 percent of the budget size.

Buhari is not new to criticisms on foreign travels. He spent over one-third of his first three years in office outside Nigeria, according to reports.

A large part of that was for medical treatment of an undisclosed ailment in the UK.

Whenever 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

Although the travels were deemed a priority by the presidency, many Nigerians have argued that the president could have sent few representatives to some of the events, thus cutting cost and having more time to attend to important national issues at home.