Federal ministries, departments and agencies spent at least N50.41bn on foreign trips, air tickets, estacode, offshore allowances and overseas training between June 2023 and June 19, 2026, according to an analysis of government payment records.

The expenditure covered 1,967 transactions involving 129 federal institutions and their agencies, based on payment data obtained from GovSpend, a public expenditure tracking platform developed by civic-tech organisation BudgIT.

The analysis reviewed 9,305 entries across six transaction datasets. After 1,001 duplicate records were removed, 8,304 unique payments remained. A further 6,337 transactions were excluded because their descriptions did not provide sufficient evidence linking them to foreign travel.

Only payments of N5m and above were included, meaning the N50.41bn figure represents a minimum estimate, as smaller travel-related transactions were not captured.

Air Tickets Account for N23.7bn

Three complete 12-month periods between June 2023 and May 2026 accounted for N50.34bn of the expenditure, while another N69.88m was recorded between June 1 and June 19, 2026.

Foreign air tickets represented the largest component, accounting for N23.70bn, or 47 per cent of total expenditure.

Estacode and offshore allowances followed at N17.05bn, representing 33.8 per cent, while other travel-related expenses, including visas, accommodation, participation fees, foreign exchange, protocol and logistics, amounted to N5.35bn.

Overseas training accounted for another N4.32bn, equivalent to 8.6 per cent of the total.

Foreign-travel expenditure increased from N16.54bn between June 2023 and May 2024 to N19.13bn in the following 12 months, representing a 15.7 per cent rise.

Spending subsequently declined by 23.4 per cent to N14.66bn between June 2025 and May 2026.

Although the number of transactions fell from 780 in the second period to 467 in the third, the average value increased to N31.39m, indicating that fewer but larger payments accounted for spending during the period.

Technical Aid Corps Leads MDA Spending

The Technical Aid Corps recorded the highest foreign-travel-related expenditure among the institutions analysed, with N11.70bn paid across 93 transactions.

The amount represented 23.2 per cent of the total expenditure and largely covered offshore allowances for Nigerian volunteers and other foreign-service activities.

Its major payments included N1.45bn in July 2025, N1.27bn in April 2026, N1.23bn in May 2025 and N1.22bn in December 2025.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation followed with N5.16bn recorded in two transactions.

Its largest transaction was N5.15bn released in December 2024 for outstanding estacode allowances and flight tickets relating to official foreign trips by the Vice-President and First Lady that were described in the payment record as not budgeted for in 2023 and 2024.

The expenditure was processed by the Accountant-General’s office but related to State House foreign trips.

State House Headquarters recorded N4.83bn across 28 transactions, while the Federal Ministry of Sports Development accounted for N4.10bn through 25 payments.

State House Operations for the President recorded another N2.12bn across 19 transactions, while operations for the Vice-President accounted for N691.66m through nine payments.

Presidential Trips, African Games Drive Spending

Payments attributed to State House Headquarters included N1.04bn for foreign exchange linked to President Bola Tinubu’s trip to Ethiopia in February 2024.

Another N750m was recorded for a presidential trip to Dubai in November 2023, while N426.88m was linked to the Vice-President’s trip to Switzerland in January 2024.

The Ministry of Sports Development’s N4.10bn expenditure was largely associated with Nigeria’s participation in the 2024 African Games in Accra, Ghana, covering chartered flights, participation fees, allowances, estacode and other expenses.

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure recorded N2.05bn across 221 transactions, the highest number of payments by any institution included in the analysis.

The Federal Ministry of Finance followed with N1.58bn across 117 transactions, while the Federal Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs each recorded about N1.05bn.

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit accounted for N1.01bn through 93 transactions.

Other notable expenditures included N963.78m by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, N773.68m by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, N760.56m by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and N731.82m by Police Formations and Commands.

Scholarships and Overseas Programmes

Some of the expenditure was linked to scholarships and official programmes abroad.

The Ministry of Education, for example, paid N291.03m in December 2024 for one-way air tickets for 109 Nigerian scholars travelling from Abuja to Moscow.

Another N249.60m was released for one-way tickets for 78 beneficiaries of the 2023/2024 Morocco scholarship programme.

In February 2025, the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission paid N498.89m for air tickets and ground handling for members of the House of Representatives and commission officials travelling to Rome and Israel for a research and programme development visit.

Overall, foreign air tickets accounted for 958 transactions worth N23.70bn, making the category the largest by both value and transaction volume.

Estacode and offshore allowances accounted for 488 payments, overseas training generated 399 transactions, while other foreign-travel expenses were recorded across 122 payments.

Government Tightens Foreign Travel Controls

The level of expenditure has attracted calls from civil society organisations for greater scrutiny of government travel costs and their benefits to taxpayers.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project raised concerns about the scale of estacode expenditure, while Accountability Lab Nigeria called for greater transparency and accountability in the management of public finances.

The Federal Government has since moved to strengthen controls over official foreign travel.

In an August 13, 2026 circular, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume directed ministries, departments and agencies to stop processing payments for official foreign trips by government appointees without prior approval from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

The circular noted that some government appointees continued to undertake foreign trips without obtaining the required approval despite existing regulations.

Accounting officers, permanent secretaries, chief executives and heads of federal agencies were consequently directed to ensure that no expenditure relating to official foreign travel is processed without the required approval.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also instructed to require evidence of the approval when processing diplomatic facilitation, Notes Verbales and visa applications for government appointees travelling abroad.