Tinubu off to France on private visit

President Bola Tinubu has departed Abuja for Paris, France, on a private visit.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, announced this in a statement on Wednesday.

Ngelale, who did not go into details said the president will return to the country in the first week of February, 2024.

This is the first trip by Tinubu since he approved “cost-cutting” measures that involve slashing, by 60%, official entourage on local and international travels.

Ngelale had said the directive applied to the Offices of the President, Vice President, First Lady, Wife of the Vice President and all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

He said, “President Bola Tinubu has approved that anywhere he travels within this country he will no longer accept or allow huge security delegations to be following him from Abuja, which attracts massive bills with respect to estacode and duty allowances from now on.

“He has approved a massive cost-cutting exercise that will cut across the entire Federal Government of Nigeria and the Offices of the President himself, the Vice President and the Office of the First Lady. It will be conducted in the following fashion.

“On international trips, the President has directed that no more than 20 individuals be allowed to travel with him. That number will be cut down to five in the case of the First Lady. Additionally, the number in the entourage on official international trips for the Vice President will be cut to five. The number that will be placed as a limit on the wife of the Vice President is also five.”