Various ministries and agencies in the current administration have reportedly spent approximately N1.8bn on air tickets, estacodes, and duty tour allowances during the period between July and September 2024, based on data obtained from GovSpend.
Some of these entities include the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Police Affairs, Ministry of Youth Development, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Additional entities are the Technical Aid Corps, Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The data reveals that approximately N755,884,949.44 was spent on Duty Tour Allowances, with an additional N1,044,858,941.48 allocated for estacodes, air tickets, and foreign trips, totaling N1,800,743,930.92 spent from July to September 26, 2024.
Notable spenders include the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy with N322m, Ministry of Finance with N187.2m, ICPC with N150m, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources with N108m spent within the three-month period.
A three-month ban on publicly-funded trips for Ministers and agency heads was imposed by the President, aiming to curb excessive spending on international travel and refocus on mandates, although some ministries later surpassed N21m in expenses shortly after the ban was lifted.
The spending has been criticized as wasteful and a misallocation of government resources by accountability groups, emphasizing the need for stricter travel and expenditure policies for government officials to ensure effective use of public funds.
Critics also noted the lack of tangible benefits such as foreign direct investments resulting from these travels. Attempts to reach out to officials for comments were unsuccessful.