‘He Is Busy Globetrotting Rather Than Sitting Down To Cut Waste’ – PDP Condemns Tinubu’s Recent Trips

Major opposition parties have expressed disapproval over President Bola Tinubu’s frequent international travels, accusing him of prioritizing globetrotting over addressing pressing domestic issues.

In the past 18 months, Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima have embarked on 43 trips across 28 countries, with the President visiting 17 countries on 30 occasions.

Tinubu is currently in France for a state visit, which has drawn further criticism from opposition figures.

The National Deputy Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Timothy Osadolor, described Tinubu’s pattern of foreign visits as excessive.

He said, “He believes more than ever before that being a president is only an exercise by how much you travel across the world. He’s busy globetrotting rather than sitting down to cut waste and develop the country’s economy. Foreign trips are good for investment attraction.

“But why do you have ministers of trade and investments as well as foreign ambassadors in this country? Also, these are several international business platforms the government should explore on one hand.”

Osadolor wondered why the funds spent on such trips could not be put to good use to salvage thousands of jobless Nigerian youths.

“The humongous taxpayer’s money being used on these contingents would be more than enough to set up more than 20 small-scale industries that could take over 10,000 youths off the streets of joblessness, and our production would have increased,” the youth leader added.

Speaking on the matter, the National Publicity Secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Ladipo Johnson, expressed reservations about the president’s frequent travels abroad.

According to Johnson, the trend is becoming worrisome.

He said, “It is not looking good. We don’t know the resultant effects of his globetrotting. At the moment, they tell us it will yield investments, but we haven’t seen it. How will investors come in when the economy doesn’t seem to be turning around? Then we also have the security issues to contend with.

“At the end of the day, we will see his scorecard when they mark his papers by May next year, which will be the mid-term of his four years. Then we can see the result of what he has invested so much in travelling and what has come out of it.”

Meanwhile, the presidential spokesman, Sunday Dare, who spoke in an interview with TVC, on Friday, explained that Tinubu, the ‘chief marketer’ of Nigeria, couldn’t afford to sit back.

He said, “I think that for a country looking for direct investment and trying to pursue a new trajectory when it comes to the critical sector of the economy, there is a need for the new president to quickly make sure that he interacts with other presidents, investors and big international organisations who are present at most of these meetings they attend.

“Yes, there is work for the president at home, but he cannot be a sit-at-home president. He must go out there and speak for this country. He needs to make a strong pitch. The president is the number one spokesperson for his administration. These trips aren’t junkets. They are critical for the country’s development.”