President Bola Tinubu implemented a significant reduction in official travel delegations on Tuesday, slashing personnel by about 60 percent.
Ajuri Ngelale, the president’s media and publicity adviser, revealed that foreign trips would now include only 20 individuals with specific allocations: 5 for the vice president, 4 for ministers, and 2 for agency heads.
Local trips will also see decreased staff numbers. Tinubu aims to curtail government spending by implementing strict guidelines for travel by himself, the vice president, ministers, and agencies.
The president emphasised limited delegations for both international and local travels, focusing on minimising security delegations and reducing accompanying personnel to save costs.
The president’s decision to embark on this administrative cost-cutting measure has generated so much reaction, with some praising him for this while others cautiously critical taking into consideration a similar move made by former president Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Reaction:
Dr. Engr. Khadija Kuburat Ibrahim, an investment advisor with more than 4,500 followers excited about this move from the president, tweeted, “JAGABAN is the only president Nigeria has ever had who listens to his people and acts immediately. I am so proud of you, sir. @officialABAT. May Allah continue to guide you right and put your enemies and Nigeria’s enemies of progress to BIG SHAME. AMIN. RENEWED HOPE.”
Another tweet commending the president comes from Balogun Ridwan, who has over 3,800 followers on X, stating, “This act is nothing but citizens-driven governance.. PBAT listens and then acts on feedbacks.”
@ugoiyke tweeted, “It seems he is gradually waking up. This has been one of the cries of Nigerians “cut the cost of governance.”
Another supportive tweet from the sea of support came from @olumideadesina who tweeted, “This is awesome; at least the tears and complaints of the populace were not ignored.”
However, some people were rather critical of the president’s decision to embark on this big administrative cut.
J. Omojola @jamesomo tweeted his suspicions over the president’s decision, saying that it wasn’t the first time for a sitting president to declare a major cut in administrative spending only for the status quo of public waste by government officials to continue.
“Believe APC at your own risk,” he tweeted with a caption of the BusinessDay October 16, 2019 lead story titled, “Buhari slashes travel costs for ministers, others to curb leakages.”
@TimedFrank also tweeted his suspicion, saying, “After 7 mths, taking over 1,000 delegates to Dubai, buying N5b Presidential yacht & presidential fleet expansion plan demolishing 200 homes in d process? Cutting cost of governance Peter Obi has been preaching since it’s now this one is waking up. Mtchewwwww…. Good morning.”
Another very critical tweet that sounded sarcastic was from Queen Bee. @RealQueenBee tweeted, “Some Said Slash, while others Say Directs. AUDIO DIRECT!!! AUDIO SLASH!!! ANOTHER LAMBA!!! Believe Tinubu and his Gang at your Peril. The devil is in the details. Let them share the details of what it was pre and post the AUDIO Slash.”
Irrespective of the side Nigerians support, the majority sees this action as a crucial step in curbing the government’s historical inefficiencies and waste.
