Buhari, Osinbajo to spend N3.34bn on local, foreign trips

The Presidency has proposed the sum N3.34 billion for the local and foreign travels of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the 2023 appropriation bill submitted to a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday.

The breakdown of N2.49bn set aside for the president’s trips has N862,076,448 for local travel and transport, while international travel and transport is N1,633,464,208.

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The breakdown of the N846,607,097 budget estimate for Osinbajo’s tour has N330,320,396 for local travel and transport, as well as N516, 286,701 for international travel and transport.

The 2023 budget proposal also shows that the president and his deputy will spend N179,277,423 for food and refreshment.

The president will spend N301,138,860 for foodstuff /catering materials supplies under ‘General Materials and Supplies’ and another N30,652,500 is set aside for refreshments and meals.

Osinbajo will equally expend N156,662,400 for foodstuff/catering materials. The breakdown also reveals that the vice president’s office has N20,264,397 and N2,350,626 earmarked for refreshment/meals and cooking gas/fuel costs respectively.

Other expenses in the Office of the Vice President include N30,262,066 for honorarium and sitting allowance; N18,888,552 for publicity and advertisements; N1,680,377 postages and courier services; N23,211,005 welfare packages; and N5,488,832 for sporting activities. 

Other notable budget proposals in State House headquarters include N7,200,045,297 set aside for annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations of the Villa and N393,661,239 earmarked for the ongoing construction of the Presidential Wing at the State House Medical Centre.

In the executive proposal, the Presidency and all the agencies under the State House are to spend N133,730,697,750 earmarked for personnel, overhead and capital expenses.

A breakdown of the figure reveals that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has the largest share of N43,201,071,521 set aside for personnel, overhead and capital expenses.

The ongoing phased replacement of vehicles and spares takes N1,904,388,461.