Shocking: Report claims Buhari spent 1 year and 42 days outside Nigeria since 2015

President Muhammadu Buhari’s trips across 40 different countries since becoming president in 2015, has seen him spent a record breaking 407 days away from his own country and those he governs. That's according to a recent report published by Daily Trust. In other words, Buhari spent a whooping 1 year, 1 month and 12 days outside the shores of Nigeria in the last 5 years.



This by no means is to say foreign trips isn't part of leadership, but you'd have to compare president Buhari's mobility to those of foreign leaders to have a good idea what this is all about.

Another thing is that Nigerians are worried about the costs involved. Every night spent by the president and his entourage outside the shores of the country is paid for with public funds. Not that this in itself is much of an issue, but trips with little or nothing to show for it is a cause for worry.


Nigeria still remains the world's headquarters for extreme poverty. The economy is still stale. Stable electricity is still only a dream. Unemployment is still very high. All these and more, only makes questioning a president who after 5 years on the saddle, could hardly boast of improving anything in the country, becomes all the more legitimate.



But Buhari isn't done yet. He still has 3 more years to work out some magic. But that is, if you can bet your life on it.

The Presidency obviously understood the outrage but as always, look for where to pit the blame. It's not Goodluck Jonathan this time, but another of his predecessors.




Speaking in defense of Buhari's foreign trips, the national chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, said the noises about President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent trips abroad is unwarranted since no other president in Nigeria's recent history traveled more than ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.


“Saying Mr President is involved in frequent trips is not correct. I remember very well, there is no president in recent Nigeria’s history, since 1999 till now, that travelled out of Nigeria as much as former President Olusegun Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo did.

“If you check through your newspapers and playback some of your electronic coverages, you will find where Gani Fawehinmi (of blessed memory) took time to calculate the number of days President Obasanjo was out of Nigeria, visiting foreign countries.


“He even tried to calculate the number of hours he was spending on air comparing it to the number of hours he was spending on Nigerian soil. So, how can you, that was already an adult when Obasanjo was president suggest that Buhari travel more often than other persons? That is not correct,” Mr Oshiomole told the Vanguard.