President Bola Tinubu has announced new measures to reduce government expenses, limiting the number of vehicles and security personnel available to federal officials.
Under the new directive, ministers, ministers of state, and heads of federal agencies can now use only three vehicles in their official convoys.
Additionally, the security detail for these officials is restricted to five personnel: four police officers and one Department of State Services (DSS) operative. No extra vehicles or security officers will be allowed.
The directive was announced in a statement issued on Thursday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
Tinubu also instructed the National Security Adviser to work with military, paramilitary, and other security agencies to review and reduce the deployment of vehicles and personnel in line with the new policy. He stressed that all officials must comply immediately to reflect the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility.
These new directives build on previous measures introduced by the President to cut unnecessary spending. In January 2024, Tinubu reduced the size of delegations for official trips, limiting his foreign travel team to 20 people and his local entourage to 25. Similar cuts were made for the Vice President and First Lady.
For international travel, the Vice President and First Lady are now limited to five officials each, while heads of federal agencies can only travel with two staff. These efforts are part of Tinubu’s broader plan to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and instil discipline across government operations.
The full statement reads:
“President Bola Tinubu has restricted Ministers, Ministers of State, and Heads of Agencies of the Federal Government to a maximum of three vehicles in their official convoys.
“No additional vehicles will be assigned to them for movement.
“The cost-cutting measure was announced today in a statement signed by the President.
“In January this year, President Tinubu took significant steps to reduce government expenditure by reducing his entourage on foreign trips from 50 to 20 officials. For local trips, he reduced it to 25 officials.
“He similarly reduced the Vice President’s entourage to five officials on foreign trips and 15 for local trips.
“In the directive issued today, President Tinubu also ordered all ministers, ministers of state, and heads of agencies to have at most five security personnel attached to them.
“The security team will comprise four police officers and one Department of State Services (DSS) officer.
“No additional security personnel will be assigned, he ordered.
“President Tinubu instructed the National Security Adviser to engage with the Military, Paramilitary and Security Agencies to determine a suitable reduction in their vehicle and security personnel deployment.
“All affected officials are expected to comply with these new measures immediately, underscoring the urgency and seriousness of these changes.”