FCT, Abuja – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has embarked on 37 foreign trips against 23 Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings since assuming office on May 29, 2023.
The latest edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande raised some questions about what kind of balance is ideal between domestic governance and international diplomacy.
The State House Correspondent at The PUNCH, Stephen Angbulu, highlighted the significant amount of time the nation’s top executives have spent on foreign engagements, raising questions about governance at home.
Angbulu said President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima have collectively spent 180 days abroad.
He stated this while speaking during the programme on Channels Television on Sunday, February 16, 2025.
“Although the constitution doesn’t necessarily talk about the frequency of the meetings of the Federal Executive Council, it does recognize the Council and its functions. But, it does not state how often the Council should meet,” Angbulu noted.
He said former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2024 prescribed weekly meetings for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to ensure the efficient processing of government projects and memoranda.
“And this is to allow for speedy processing of memoranda, projects, and programmes of government so you don’t keep so much backlog waiting. One of the reasons behind that is for us to have an efficient government.”
FEC meetings followed a consistent schedule under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Angbulu emphasized the ambassadorial nature of the President and Vice President during the extensive foreign travels.
“One of the things I realised covering presidents first is that the presidency is also a heavily ambassadorial role. That’s one of the things I noticed. And that means that, for a better part of their time, presidents would mostly be lending the weight of their office to matters of interest to the nation abroad. There are certain kinds of agreements that will not go through if there’s nobody at the Head of State level to represent the interest of the country.”
Angbulu also noted the importance of assessing the outcomes of such trips.
“The usefulness of a trip is determined by two factors: the goal of that trip and what is the follow-through from the government to ensure that they achieve the goals of the trip even after the President returns.
Tinubu Travels Out of Nigeria
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that President Tinubu left Nigeria to participate in the joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Saudi Arabia.
The summit will begin in Riyadh on Monday with a focus on the situation in the Middle East but Tinubu will leave Nigeria.
