By Abiola Olawale
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has temporarily banned ministers, heads of agencies, and other government officials from embarking on publicly funded foreign trips.
The temporary ban which is expected to last in the first instance for the first three months will commence on April 1, 2024. This was reportedly contained in a presidential directive dated 12th March and signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.
Tinubu, in the presidential directive, cited the enormous running cost of governance as the main reason for the temporary ban.
However, in the event that the purpose of the trip is extremely necessary, Tinubu noted that the concerned government officials who intend to go on any such publicly funded international trip must seek and secure presidential approval at least two weeks before embarking on any such trip.
“Mr. President has concerns about the rising cost of travel expenses borne by Ministries, Department, and Agencies of Government as well as the growing need for Cabinet Members and heads of MDAS to focus on their respective mandates for effective service delivery.
“Considering the current economic challenges and the need for responsible fiscal management, I am writing to communicate Mr. President’s directive to place a temporary ban on all publicly funded international trips for all Federal Government officials at all levels, for an initial period of three (3) months from 1st April 2024.
“This temporary measure is aimed at cost reduction in governance and intended as a cost-saving measure without compromising government functions.
“All government officials who intend to go on any publicly funded international trip must seek and obtain presidential approval at least two (2) weeks prior to embarking on any such trip, which must be deemed absolutely necessary.
“Considering the above, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is kindly requested to circulate this directive to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of government”, the memo reads.
The New Diplomat reports that this is a follow-up to Tinubu’s earlier directive. In January, the president issued a directive on cutting down the size of delegations for local and foreign trips.
He har directed that individuals on his delegations should be pegged at 25 for local travels and 20 for international engagements. He had also ordered that security agents based at his destinations should be occasionally deployed for his protection whenever he travels to states instead of being accompanied by many security details from Abuja, the nation’s capital.
