Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered all official entourages on state and international travel to be reduced by 60% in an effort to cut government spending, according to presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale.
"He [the president] 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," the spokesman said.
Under the new directive, President Bola Tinubu will not be accompanied by more than 20 people on foreign trips, while the entourage of the First Lady and Vice President will be limited to five people, the presidency said.
For local travel, the president's entourage has been reduced to 25, the vice president's to 15, and the first lady's to 10. Ngelale added that the new guidelines stipulate that ministers can be accompanied by a maximum of four staff members on foreign trips.
In addition, the spokesman emphasized that security personnel during the president's travels across the states will be drawn from the respective security agencies within those states.
"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 noted.
The spokesman concluded that through the directive, Tinubu is "determined to bring total sanity and prudence to the management of the commonwealth of our people."
According to local media calculations, Tinubu, who became president in May 2023, has since visited 10 countries, spending 55 days abroad, while his Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has toured to six states, including Russia at the Second Russia-Africa Summit in July.