Between July 21, 2023, a little over a month after Kashim Shettima was inaugurated as Nigeria’s vice president, and December 9, 2024, he spent not less than N1,276,092,667.77 on flight trips.
Verifying some transaction details of these trips on GovSpend, a website that mirrors the Nigerian government’s spending on the Open Treasury Portal.
Some of the funds were used to purchase foreign currencies for Shettima’s numerous international trips while some were paid directly in naira for flight tickets.
For instance, on December 24, N426,884,394 was used to purchase $483,227 for a trip to Switzerland. Similarly, N86,758,921 was spent to purchase $93,004 for a trip to Liberia.
| DATE | MDA | BENEFICIARY | AMOUNT | DESCRIPTION |
| 21 July, 2023 | State House operations – Vice President | Travel options ltd | N21,954,926.86 | Payment in favour of travel options for the issuance of local and international tickets for the state house |
| 21, Jul 2023 | State House operations – Vice President | State House hqtrs-transit account | N26,021,719.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of June, 2023. |
| 21, Jul 2023 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N6,307,850.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of June, 2023 |
| 04, Aug 2023 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N27,526,700.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses. |
| 04, Aug 2023 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N43,023,892.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses. |
| 06, Sep 2023 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N43,023,892.00 | Purchase of foreign exchange ( 300,000.00) euro for presidential trips. |
| 12, Sep 2023 | State house operations – vice president | Travel options ltd | N6,113,018.00 | Payment in favour of travel options for the purchase of local and international air tickets for the state house officials. |
| 07, Dec 2023 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N60,319,314.45 | Payment in favour of overland travels and tours ltd for the purchase of international air ticket in respect of state house officials. |
| 15, Mar 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N9,484,310.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses. |
| 13, Mar 2024 | State house operations – vice president | Travel options ltd | N23,945,930.00 | 2nd part payment in favour of travel options for the purchase of local and international air tickets for the state house officials. |
| 17, May 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N51,533,300.00 | Provision for presidential trips and others related expenses. |
| 06, Aug 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N11,018,000.00 | Payment as presidential trips and other related expenses for july,2024. |
| 23, Nov 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N46,800,000.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses. |
| 28, Nov 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N10,837,500.00 | Payment in favour in Kilani Likman a, for estacode allowance on an official visit to Kenya. |
| 01, Dec 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N34,609,000.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of Nov, 2024. |
| 01, Dec 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N211,855,000.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of Nov, 2024. |
| 01, Dec 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N84,742,000.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of Nov, 2024. |
| 01, Dec 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N15,461,000.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses for the month of Nov, 2024. |
| 09, Dec 2024 | State house operations – vice president | State house hqtrs-transit account | N27,900,000.00 | Payment for presidential trips and other related expenses the month of December, 2024 |
| 24, Feb 2024 | State house – hqtrs | State house hqtrs-transit account | N426,884,394.69 | Purchase of foreign exchange ( $483,277.00) us dollars for vice president trip to Switzerland on 15/1/2024. |
| 24, Feb 2024 | State house – hqtrs | State house hqtrs-transit account | N86,758,921.46 | Purchase of foreign exchange ( $93,004.00) us dollars for vice president trip to Liberia on 23/1/2024. |
In 2024, the federal government renovated the residence of the vice president with N21 billion. The construction of the building began during the Goodluck Jonathan tenure but could not be completed, according to the State House. An architect told FIJ in June 2024 that the building should have not cost more than a billion naira.
Eight months after the completion of the renovation, Shettima was yet to move into the building constructed with taxpayer’s money.
Despite this, another Lagos residence was renovated with N5 billion for the vice president.
MORE BIG SPENDINGS TO COME…FOR AIR TRAVELS
In the 2025 Appropriation Act, more big spending have been outlined for international travels.
Another N1.3 billion has been set aside for the vice president to be spent on international travel and transport.
Some of these spendings could be reduced but the high number of escorts and size of Shettima’s entourage won’t allow it.
In January 2024, the presidency announced that the vice president’s aides have been reduced to five. Nonetheless, Shettima’s annual international travel budget stays well over N1.3 billion.
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