2017: Buhari, Osinbajo to spend N1.05bn on foreign trips

The foreign trips of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the State House headquarters will gulp about N1.05bn in the 2017 fiscal year.

Their local trips will cost the nation N353.115m.

These are some of the details of the 2017 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly as obtained by our correspondent on Thursday in Abuja.

According to the breakdown of the proposed budget, Buhari’s international travels and transport will gulp N739.487m; Osinbajo’s will cost N218.296m; while the State House Headquarters will spend N97.208m on the same item.

For local travels and transport, N238.201m is budgeted for Buhari; N88.364m is allocated to Osinbajo, while the State House Headquarters will get N26.44m.

Apart from the travel expenses, the President and the Vice President are expected to spend N168.45m on foodstuffs as well as catering materials and supplies in 2017.

This is apart from another N123.223m budgeted for the same item for the State House Headquarters.

According to the breakdown, N114.967m is allocated for foodstuffs and catering materials’ supplies for the President’s office, while N53.494m is allocated for Osinbajo’s office.

For the State House Headquarters, the government has allocated N100.82m for the payment of outstanding balance on acquired canteen and kitchen equipment for the Banquet Hall, auditorium and Defence House; N21.6m for cooking gas; and N97.2m for refreshment and meals.

The Office of the Chief of Staff to the President will also get N1.152m for foodstuffs and catering materials’ supplies.

For the Lagos Liaison Office of the State House, N8.350m will be spent on foodstuffs and catering materials, and N900,000 will be spent on cooking gas and fuel cost.