On Friday, Paul Ibe, who serves as a media aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, raised concerns regarding the possibility that President Bola Tinubu is misusing state resources for personal gain. Ibe commented on Tinubu’s layover in Los Angeles during his trip, stating that the President should not be operating Nigeria’s presidential aircraft as if it were a taxi service. Tinubu, who left Yokohama, Japan on Thursday evening, is set to stop in Los Angeles before proceeding to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. His two-nation trip began on August 15 when he left Abuja. He and his team had a layover in Dubai, UAE, before arriving in Yokohama on the morning of August 18. The President participated in the opening ceremony and the plenary session of the ninth Tokyo International Conference for African Development, TICAD9, on August 20. He also conducted several bilateral meetings, concluding with an interactive session with Nigerian expatriates on Thursday night. In response, Ibe questioned the rationale behind the stop in Los Angeles, as it was not part of an official state visit. He expressed concern on X, stating: “I fear that President Bola Tinubu Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu might be utilizing state resources for personal gain.” Alternatively, what other reasons could explain the layover in Los Angeles, United States? Clearly, it isn’t an official visit. In this time of decreasing income and governance reliant on loans, the President should not be using our presidential aircraft as a taxi for his own advantage and that of his family and associates.
