PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has restricted the number of vehicles assigned to ministers and heads of federal agencies to three, in what he described as a measure to reduce the cost of governance.
In the directive, issued on Thursday, October 24, the President stated that no extra vehicles would be provided for their movement.
The statement, signed by the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, showed that the security team of the ministers and agency heads is limited to five personnel – four police officers and one State Security Services (SSS) officer.
“President Tinubu instructed the national security adviser to engage with the military, paramilitary and security agencies to determine a suitable reduction in their vehicle and security personnel deployment.
“All affected officials are expected to comply with these new measures immediately, underscoring the urgency and seriousness of these changes,” the statement added.
This move comes as Nigeria grapples with economic challenges, with citizens facing rising costs of living, spurred by fuel subsidy removal and inflation.
Tinubu had previously reduced the number of officials on foreign and local trips.
The president reduced his foreign entourage from 50 to 20 and limited domestic trips to 25 officials.
The Vice President’s foreign and local delegations were similarly reduced to five and 15 officials, respectively.
The reduction in entourage also affects government officials across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
“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.
The ICIR reports that since Tinubu came into power, Nigeria has been experiencing significant economic hardship, driven by surging inflation, the floating of the naira, and the removal of petrol subsidy.
Tinubu’s announcement that the “subsidy is gone” on May 29, 2023, negatively impacted the economy as the price of fuel had more than doubled since then. This led to a surge in the price of commodities and a spike in inflation.
Following this removal, the World Bank announced that 7.1 million Nigerians were at risk of poverty if properly targeted measures such as disbursement of palliatives were not taken to manage the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
To cushion the effects of escalating food prices, electricity costs, and fuel expenses, the government has been doling out rice multiple times as palliatives targeted at vulnerable Nigerians.
However, these interventions have been plagued by reports of diversion, corruption, stampedes, and looting – patterns observed during previous administrations.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M