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The President and Convener of the Transparency and Accountability Group, Comrade Ayo Ologun, has called for an investigation into the use of public funds for the foreign travels of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu.
Ologun raised the concern after records from GovSpend showed that $553,884 was released as foreign exchange for overseas trips involving the First Lady between 2023 and 2024.
Speaking with Daily Trust, Ologun questioned the legal basis for funding the foreign trips, arguing that the Office of the First Lady is not recognized as a separate government office under the law or provided for as an independent office in the national budget.
He said the issue should not only be viewed from the perspective of whether financial regulations were violated but also whether public resources were being unnecessarily depleted.
“Because her office is not recognized by the law, and there is nothing like the office of the wife of the President, but because we have seemingly adapted to it as a people, by giving acknowledgment to an office that is not legally backed, if it is established that public money was spent on supposed official travels, the question should be: what is the duty?” Ologun said.
He added that government authorities had a responsibility to protect public funds and prevent unnecessary depletion of the national purse.
“They are also supposed to prevent the purse from being depleted. This is simply the depletion of our national commonwealth,” he said.
According to the GovSpend records, the $553,884 released for the First Lady’s overseas trips was worth ₦700,707,534.55 based on the exchange rates applicable when the transactions were carried out.
The records covered trips to the United States, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and France.
They contain the destinations, stated travel dates, amounts of foreign exchange purchased and the corresponding naira values.
However, the records do not state the purpose of each trip, the duration of the visits, the number of people who travelled with the First Lady or the total cost of the trips beyond the foreign exchange component.
The first recorded transaction involved a United States trip said to have taken place on March 11, 2023.
State House Operations purchased $94,314 for the trip, although the payment was made several months later, on November 17, 2023. The transaction was valued at ₦77,659,888.63.
In 2024, four separate transactions connected to the First Lady’s overseas trips amounted to $459,570.
The largest was $152,831 for a trip to France scheduled for April 1, 2024. The transaction was paid for on February 24 and valued at ₦149,794,284.71.
Another $126,834 was purchased for a March 2024 trip to Mozambique. The payment was made on March 15 and was valued at ₦202,386,198.09.
On the same day, State House records listed $96,118 for a trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, stated to have taken place on September 2, 2024. The allocation was valued at ₦144,571,785.46.
A further $83,787 was purchased for a London trip, also recorded as a March 2024 visit. The transaction was valued at ₦126,295,377.66.
The four 2024 transactions amounted to $459,570, with a combined naira value of ₦623,047,645.92.
Adding the $94,314 allocated for the 2023 United States trip brought the total foreign exchange released for the five recorded destinations to $553,884, equivalent to ₦700,707,534.55.
The GovSpend records contain no similar foreign-trip forex payments involving the First Lady for 2025 and 2026.
Ologun further argued that because the Office of the First Lady is not captured in the national budget, any public expenditure associated with it should be subjected to proper scrutiny.
“The office is not captured in our budget, because the office does not exist. So there is no way it could have a budget to legally pass by the National Assembly,” he said.
He also questioned the source of the funds used for the trips and the authority under which they were released.
“Where did that amount of money come from? If it is spent on the wife of the President, that is abuse of power,” Ologun said.
The activist said Nigerians had a right to demand accountability over the expenditure, stressing that government resources should be deployed in accordance with the law.
He called for a probe into both the expenditure and the legal basis for using public funds to finance the foreign travels.
“The office of the President should not only be investigated, but should be tried by the provisions of the law,” Ologun said.
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