ActionAid Nigeria has welcomed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent call on state governors to stop constructing unnecessary flyovers in locations without traffic congestion and to instead prioritise projects that directly improve citizens’ lives.
The organisation believes the President’s remarks present an opportunity for a broader national conversation about public finance, one that goes beyond flyovers to address how governments at all levels allocate scarce public resources.
While infrastructure remains essential for development, ActionAid Nigeria notes that the real challenge is not flyovers themselves but a pattern of public expenditure that too often prioritises prestige over people. At a time when millions of Nigerians are making extraordinary sacrifices amid economic hardship, every naira of public money should deliver measurable value to citizens.
ActionAid Nigeria is therefore calling on governments at all levels to review expenditures that deliver little public benefit, including unnecessary prestige projects, luxury acquisitions, oversized government delegations, excessive official travel, and discretionary spending lacking adequate transparency and accountability.
According to details released by the Budget Office of the Federation, President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima are earmarked a combined ₦9.36 billion in the 2026 budget proposal for local travel, foreign travel, food and refreshments. This figure does not necessarily capture the full cost of official trips, as expenses for accompanying officials and other operational support are often budgeted separately across relevant government institutions.ActionAid Nigeria notes that public budgets ultimately reflect national priorities.
A 50 per cent reduction in the proposed ₦9.36 billion allocation would release approximately ₦4.68 billion for essential public services. Based on recently published government project costs, if redirected to education, access to water, and primary healthcare, this amount could provide approximately 62 three-classroom school blocks, 208 solar-powered boreholes, and five fully equipped primary healthcare centres for communities across Nigeria.
Commenting on the issue, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Dr Andrew Mamedu, said:
“This is not merely a question of reducing expenditure; it is about changing national priorities. Every unnecessary luxury purchase represents classrooms that were never built. Every unjustifiable trip represents medicines that never reached a primary healthcare centre. Every unaccounted security vote represents communities that continue to live in fear without knowing how public resources intended for their protection were spent. Every prestige project that fails to address citizens’ needs represents another missed opportunity to reduce poverty and inequality. Public budgets are moral documents. They reveal whose interests governments choose to protect.”
“ActionAid Nigeria emphasised that Nigeria’s development challenge is not simply about the availability of resources, but about making deliberate choices to invest those resources where they will have the greatest impact on people’s lives.
The organisation therefore called on the Federal Government and state governments to:Prioritise investments in quality public education, primary healthcare, water and sanitation, food security, climate resilience and social protection. Reduce the cost of governance by curbing unnecessary official travel, luxury purchases and oversized government delegations.
Strengthen transparency and accountability in discretionary public expenditure, including security-related spending, while safeguarding legitimate national security interests.
Ensure that infrastructure projects are selected based on evidence, community priorities and measurable development outcomes rather than political visibility. Institutionalise meaningful citizen participation in budget planning, implementation and monitoring to ensure public resources respond to the real needs of communities.
ActionAid Nigeria urges leaders at every level to seize this moment to shift public spending from prestige to purpose. The true measure of governance is not the number of monuments built, but the number of lives improved through quality education, accessible healthcare, safe water, decent livelihoods and opportunities that enable every Nigerian to thrive.