Exclusive: NIMASA DG Dayo Mobereola Burnt N1.83 Billion on Air Tickets and Visas, N687 Million For International Meeting In Just One Year

Secrets Reporters 

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) recorded ₦1,826,557,876 on four air-ticket and visa expense lines in 2024, a staggering travel bill that leaves its Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, facing one unavoidable question: how many people actually travelled?

SecretsReporters can authoritatively reveal that the DG spent ₦57,750,000 for board travel tickets, ₦1,045,320,376 for foreign-training tickets and another ₦687,500,000 for air tickets to international meetings and conferences.

For the trainings that demanded visa procurements to unknown countries not specified in the documents in our possession, ₦35,987,500 was paid for visa procurement. The combined figure was almost ₦1.83 billion.

The entries supplied no passenger count, routes, cabin classes or cost per traveller. That absence is what makes the bill outrageous. Once the figures are placed beside ordinary 2024 international fares and official visa charges, the scale becomes impossible to ignore.

Foreign-training tickets consumed ₦1.045 billion

The biggest component was the ₦1,045,320,376 recorded for foreign-training tickets alone. In the competitive 2024 Lagos–London market, return economy tickets were commonly advertised from roughly ₦1.2 million to ₦2.4 million, while return business-class tickets generally ranged from about ₦3.8 million to ₦6.9 million, depending on the airline and booking period.

At ₦1.2 million per return economy ticket, the foreign-training ticket bill could pay for about 871 trips. Even at the upper economy benchmark of ₦2.4 million, it could buy about 435 return tickets. At business-class prices, the same amount could fund roughly 275 tickets at ₦3.8 million each or about 151 tickets at ₦6.9 million each.

NIMASA has not stated that 871 employees travelled in economy class, that 151 travelled in the most expensive business-class bracket, or that any comparable mix of passengers undertook foreign training. Without that basic headcount, the ₦1.045 billion entry reads less like an accountable training cost and more like an enormous blank cheque for air travel.

International meetings swallowed another ₦687.5 million

The agency separately recorded ₦687,500,000 for air tickets to international meetings and conferences. At the same market rates, this single line could buy about 572 return economy tickets at ₦1.2 million each or roughly 286 at ₦2.4 million. It could also fund around 180 return business-class tickets at ₦3.8 million or about 99 at ₦6.9 million.

A duplicated board-ticket line carried ₦57.75 million

₦57,750,000 for board travel tickets and was itself labelled twice for another payment line making it duplicated. At ₦1.2 million per return economy ticket, that amount could buy about 48 Lagos–London trips. At ₦2.4 million, it could buy about 24. Even at the ₦3.8 million business-class benchmark, it could pay for roughly 15 return journeys.

₦35.99 million for visas could cover hundreds of applications

Visa fees are nowhere near airline-ticket prices. In 2024, a standard United States visitor or business visa carried a fee of US$185, the United Kingdom standard visitor visa was £115, and the Schengen adult fee moved from €80 to €90 in June. With exchange-rate movement and routine application-centre charges allowed for, a broad Nigerian market benchmark of about ₦140,000 to ₦300,000 per standard application captures the usual order of cost for these major destinations.

Against that range, NIMASA’s ₦35,987,500 visa-procurement bill could pay for roughly 257 applications at ₦140,000 each, about 179 applications at ₦200,000 each, or nearly 120 applications even at ₦300,000 each. The agency did not state that it processed anywhere near 120 to 257 visas. It did not state how many applications were refused, how many attracted premium services or how visa costs matched the foreign-training and conference travellers.

The complete air-ticket bill could move hundreds of people

Removing the visa line leaves ₦1,790,570,376 spent on tickets. At the ₦1.2 million economy benchmark, that sum could buy about 1,492 return international tickets. At ₦2.4 million, it could buy about 746. Even if every traveller flew business class, it could still purchase about 471 return tickets at ₦3.8 million each or roughly 259 at ₦6.9 million each.