Nigeria clamps down on officials' flights

Politicians' wives planned a 'training' trip to London

By Barnaby Phillips in Lagos

The coveted trip abroad may be a thing of the past for the wives of some of Nigeria's politicians.

The entire state assembly... is planning a two-week trip to the United States

Government officials in south-western Nigeria have been summoned before legislators to justify plans to pay for the wives of about 20 local politicians to go to London for unspecified training.

Legislators in Ekiti state have condemned the proposed trip, although the state governor has said it will give the women exposure to the outside world.

There are few details of what exactly the wives of local government chairmen from Ekiti state hope to achieve in London, but a leading human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has already threatened to go to court to prevent the trip.

He argues that the wives are not elected officials, so they have no right to spend public money.

Need to travel

But the women of Ekiti are not alone in their desire to learn more first-hand about how the rich democracies work.

The states are following the example of the national assembly

In Akwa-Ibom in south-eastern Nigeria, the entire state assembly, along with civil servants, is planning a two-week trip to the United States.

Their itinerary is still vague, but an official said the people of Akwa-Ibom would be the ultimate beneficiaries. Legislators in Ondo state in the south-west have a similar plan to travel en masse to Europe.

These state legislators take their cue from the national assembly, whose members have travelled assiduously over the past two years.

In private, members admit that foreign travel, and the daily allowances that come with it, are one of the perks of a badly paid job, but the majority of Nigerians have little sympathy for such arguments.