Despite President Bola Tinubu‘s move to cut down the cost of governance, and his recent move to merge, or eliminate some government agencies, the same president is set to visit Qatar with two of his children, Seyi and Yinka, as part of the delegation delegation to travel with him, between March 2nd and 3rd 2024, on a state visit to Doha, capital of Qatar.
The first batch of 16 people to arrive on February 28, 2024, including Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum; Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.
The second delegation made up of 22 people to arrive on February 29, 2024, includes Seyi Tinubu, Yinka Tinubu, PPS, Hakeem Muti-Okunola, SCOP, Ambassador Victor Adeleke, Dr. Ade Tinubu, and SSAP (Household), Subair Oluwatoyin.
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This comes a day after Tinubu ordered the implementation of Stephen Oronsaye report that called for a leaner government by merging some agencies and scrapping some others to cut the cost of governance.
Before now, Seyi and his brother, Yinka have accompanied Tinubu on virtually every foreign trip. Seyi used the presidential jet for a private trip to Kano State to watch a polo tournament in October 2023.
Reacting to the development then, Jaafar Jaafar, a Nigerian journalist from Kano State and the founder of Daily Nigerian, wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, “Here’s Tinubu’s golden child, Seyi, traveling in a presidential jet to watch polo in Kano. But this trend did not start today. Buhari set a bad example when he allowed his daughter Hanan to travel in a presidential jet for a photo tour in Bauchi. Even if our laws are vague on this, one thing is clear. This is an offence to the moral code of leadership.”
