Nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday, especially when taxpayers’ money is paying for it. Nigerian politicians and their families have never been the type to have mercy on money or the people who elected them into office. But their crudeness becomes most apparent when business-class trips and maximised enjoyment are involved.
From First Ladies to local government chairmen, here are the most ridiculous trips public funds have sponsored recently.
Madam Tinubu, and Her ₦700 Million World Tour
Remi Tinubu has always positioned herself as a frugal queen — from swearing that Nigeria’s money does not impress her to “feeding” her family food grown in her garden — but her travel history doesn’t do much for that PR image. In September 2024, GovSpend, a website that mirrors the Open Treasury Portal, highlighted how the federal government spent ₦700,707,534 to purchase foreign currencies for the first lady’s trips to London, Mozambique, Addis Ababa, France and the United States between November 2023 and March 2024.
Even though these trips were classified as “official trips,” we are not impressed. The Office of the First Lady remains unconstitutional in Nigeria. It is an honorary position with no public value and should not have any business with public funds.
Adamawa LG wives and ₦600 million “leadership training” in Turkey
We always stand ten toes behind women empowerment programmes, but the one that was recently pulled off in Adamawa state is a hard pass for us. In September 2025, the wives of the 21 Local Government Area (LGA) chairmen in the state and some senior officials from the Ministry of Local Government reportedly jetted off to Istanbul for a “leadership training programme” that came with a ₦600 million bill.
According to Suleiman Toungo, chairman of Toungo Local Government Area (LGA) and head of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, the idea was to equip their wives with “leadership skills”. He tried justifying the move by arguing that since the chairmen had trained themselves, it made sense for their spouses to also attend the same training so they could “offer useful advice on governance.”
Aisha Buhari and her glorified girls’ trip
Apparently, former First Lady Aisha Buhari walked so Remi Tinubu could fly. In 2022, a viral video showed first ladies from different Nigerian states in Dubai with arms full of gifts, to celebrate Aisha Buhari’s birthday.
As expected, Nigerians criticised them for dipping into public funds for what looked like a glorified girls’ trip. However, the first ladies released a defensive press statement, insisting that they were in Dubai for “official duties.” According to them, the birthday hangout was just a coincidence, and they wouldn’t be girl’s girls if they didn’t show up with cakes and presents.
Their key takeaway from the trip was that the government needed to “scale up investments in education, science and technology, and provide more opportunities for young people.” We could have told them that for free, but oh well. At the end of the day, the “official trip” was still taxpayer-funded and held no public value.
President Tinubu and his climate activists
Just like his wife, President Tinubu takes sustainability and eco-consciousness seriously. We’d even go as far as calling him an ecowarrior, given how committed his administration was to the United Nations’ annual climate summit, COP28, in December 2023. Committed, in this case, means removing at least ₦2.7 billion from public funds to sponsor Nigerian delegates for the climate meeting, which kicked off in Dubai.
The country registered 1,411 delegates, making it third on the list of countries with the highest numbers of participants. Only the host, the United Arab Emirates (4,409), and Brazil (3,081) showed up with more people. Even China, with its larger economy, was outnumbered by yours truly.
According to the federal government, not every delegate was on its tab. Nigeria’s Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, clarified that of the 1,411 Nigerians in Dubai, only 422 were sponsored with government funds. He broke down the headcount: 167 participants from ministries, 73 from federal parastatals and agencies, 67 from the Presidency, 40 from the National Assembly, 34 from the Ministry of Environment, 32 from the National Council on Climate Change, and nine from the Office of the Vice President.
At the time, inflation had hit 27.33%, and the government was planning to borrow over $9 billion to fund its ₦27.5 trillion 2024 budget. The optics of $2.7 billion for COP28 felt less eco-conscious and more reckless.
President Tinubu and his fancy performance review in Paris
Of all the places that President Tinubu could have chosen to review his administration’s performance in the first quarter of 2025, he chose Paris, the city of love. According to Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, this Parisian getaway was a strategic retreat to evaluate midterm achievements and plan for his administration’s second anniversary.
While in Paris, the President reportedly reviewed ongoing reforms and engaged in strategic planning to “deepen national development priorities.” Onanuga assured Nigerians that Tinubu was fully engaged with his team and continued overseeing governance remotely.
We’re not sure how much the president achieved during that trip, but from the looks of things, it doesn’t look like he achieved much.
How’s this your business?
Ultimately, all these trips have one thing in common: they’re sponsored by money that could have been used to make life a little less unbearable for Nigerians. While politicians and their families are flying business class, the average Nigerian is stuck with the rising cost of living and fluctuating food prices.
You’re not just a bystander to these lavish excursions; you’re the one footing the bill, while your passport remains stampless because you can’t even afford local flights, let alone a “strategic retreat” in Paris, or training in Istanbul.
What can you do about it/Can you do anything about it?
The road to accountability and transparency in Nigerian politics is still long, but you can play your part by:
- Holding leaders accountable through social media
- Supporting civic groups like BudgIT that promote transparency in governance.
- Staying in the know and receiving daily updates about governance in Nigeria by subscribing to newsletters like The Big Daily.
