President Muhammadu Buhari has gone on sixteen trips out of the country since January 2022.
Out of the sixteen trips he made abroad this year, two were for medical vacations in London, totalling twenty-eight days, which has become customary for Buhari since he was elected president in 2015.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, frequently defended Buhari’s international medical journeys by claiming that he “has used the same medical team for about 40 years.”
Adesina also made the case that it is advisable President stick with the team that was familiar with his medical history.
It is unknown how much the President has spent on medical examinations, but over the past eight years, the Buhari administration has set aside at least N33.3 billion for the State House’s medical infrastructure.
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This covers both ongoing expenses like “the purchase of health/medical equipment, drugs, and medical supplies” and capital projects like the building of the State House Medical Centre’s presidential wing, which is expected to be finished this year.
According to budget documents for the time period under review, the State House Medical Centre took in N8.35 billion, while the presidential wing gulped N24.24 billion. General medical expenses totalled N308.26 million.
Meanwhile, the President’s latest travel is to Washington, United States, alongside other African leaders at the United States-Africa Leaders’ Summit.
He departed Nigeria on Sunday, 11 December, for a high-level meeting at the instance of United States President Joe Biden, who seeks more pragmatic ways to foster new economic engagement and work with African governments to advance peace, security, and good governance.
He returned on Sunday, December 18.
The President’s budget for his foreign travels in 2022 was N1.5 billion, N200 million less than the N1.7 billion budgeted for his international journeys in 2021.
Buhari has spent more than 60 days outside Nigeria this year alone.
Buhari’s travel destinations within this period include; Ethiopia, Belgium, Gambia, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kenya, Portugal, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United States of America (USA), Turkiye, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and The United Kingdom (UK).
The President visited places like Addis Ababa, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom multiple times during this time, and because of his frequent travels abroad, some Nigerians have given him the title “minister of foreign affairs.”
His extended travels have included nine days at the 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA 77), which was held on September 13, 14 days for a routine medical examination in the UK in March, another 14 days for a second examination in October, five days for a visit to the Portuguese President and the UN Ocean Conference on June 28, and yet another five days for the Economic of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ghana on June 4.
Due to the higher number of travels in 2022 compared to 2021 and the increase in airfare brought on by the Nigerian aviation fuel crisis, the President’s expenses may have exceeded what was budgeted.
Buhari has passed the number of total foreign trips made in 2021, and is unknown if he is going to be making more international travels after the Africa summit in Washington.
Break down of some countries Buhari travelled to in 2022
The Nigerian president travelled to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on February 15, 2022, to take part in the sixth Europe-Africa Summit.
The President called for a new agreement while in Belgium that would prioritise the needs of Africa as a continent and its states. He argued that better alternatives to desperate journeys through the Mediterranean should be provided for Africans at home by creating more opportunities for them.
A week or so prior to Belgium, Buhari had attended the 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads and Government of the African Union with his African counterparts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The meeting focused on the continent’s most urgent issues, such as a recent wave of coups in West Africa and a sluggish response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President travelled to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in March, where he attended the 50th anniversary of the UN Environmental Program. After returning to Abuja, he flew to London, the United Kingdom, for a two-week medical trip.
Buhari left for another trip on May 9 to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to attend a United Nations conference on the future of land, including issues like desertification, drought, degradation, rights, restoration, and the effects on local and global economies.
Ten days later, he was in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, paying his respects to Sheikh Mohamed Al Nahyan, the country’s new president, following the passing of Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahyan, the former president and the city’s ruler.
The President travelled from Abuja to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on May 27 to take part in the African Union Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which had a security component.
From May 26 to May 28, a three-day summit was held with a similar emphasis on migration, refugees, returnees, and internally displaced people.
President Buhari departed for a three-day state visit to Madrid, Spain, four days later, on May 31. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain were also visited by Buhari, who was in Spain on an official visit at Pedro Sanchez’s invitation, and they had a conversation.
He travelled to Accra, Ghana, on June 4 to participate in the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government’s extraordinary summit on the political climate in Mali and other parts of the sub-region.
In addition, on June 22, President Buhari left Abuja for Kigali, Rwanda, where he would attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which would take place from June 20 to June 26, 2022.
He participated in discussions at the CHOGM 2022 with other world leaders about the development and well-being of the more than two billion people who inhabit the 54 independent Commonwealth nations spread across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific.
He spent five days in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, after concluding a three-day state visit at the invitation of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Buhari also spent nine days in September at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which will be the last time he will attend the UNGA as the President of Nigeria.
After returning to Abuja, he flew to London, the United Kingdom, on October 31, for a two-week medical trip.
