President Bola Tinubu has implemented measures aimed at reducing the cost of governance by instructing a significant 60% reduction in the entourage accompanying officials to state and international events.
The directive, revealed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, during a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, outlines specific guidelines for both local and international trips.
Under the new directive, the President will now travel with only 20 officials, down from over 50 in the past. The Vice President’s entourage is limited to five officials, while the First Lady and the wife of the Vice President will travel with five officials each.
For local trips, the entourage numbers have been further reduced to 25 for the President, 15 for the Vice President, and 10 for the First Lady and the wife of the Vice President.
To ensure fiscal prudence and resource management, ministers’ foreign trip delegations are capped at a maximum of four officials, and heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) will travel with a maximum of two officials.
Additionally, the President emphasized a reduction in the size of security details on local trips to curb expenses related to duty travel allowances.
The presidential spokesman warned that any official found violating these directives would do so at their own risk. A circular outlining these new guidelines has been circulated to various ministries, departments, and agencies from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).