By Peregba Jerry
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday approved “cost-cutting” measures that involves slashing, by 60%, official entourage on local and international travels.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this while briefing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
Ngelale 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.
“In terms of local trips, the President has approved a new limit of 25 members of staff to accompany him on domestic trips. within the country.
Ngelale noted that the Office of the First Lady and that of the Wife of the Vice President is now limited to 10 staff members on official trips within the country.
The Vice President will be limited to 15 members of staff on official trips within the country.
The presidential spokesman said ministers are now limited to four persons for foreign trips while heads of agencies can only travel with two persons.
Ngelale added, “By this directive, every minister will be limited to having not more than four members of staff going with them to any event anywhere in the world. In the case of CEOs of agencies, they will be limited to two staff going with them to anywhere in the world.”
Tuesday’s development came four weeks after the Tinubu administration came under harsh criticism for conveying a massive entourage to the COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
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