Presidency Under Fire as Editors Pay ₦16.5m for Access to Meet Tinubu

By Diafa Doubra, Warri.

The Nigerian media community is expressing deep concern after revelations that the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) paid a staggering ₦16.5 million to use the State House Banquet Hall for a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The payment was reportedly demanded by the Presidency as a prerequisite for the editors’ courtesy visit during their 21st annual conference in Abuja. Sources within the Guild described the experience as “embarrassing” and “commercialised,” noting that the Villa traditionally considered a public institution now appears to be treated as a paid-for event space.

According to individuals familiar with the matter, the NGE had expected the usual protocol-based access granted to professional bodies during official visits. Instead, they were informed that meeting the President within the Banquet Hall required payment for the venue’s use. The editors proceeded with the payment to avoid disrupting their conference program, but the incident has raised wider questions about transparency, governance culture, and the perceived monetisation of state facilities.

Following the Villa meeting, the Guild shifted its conference to the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja, where participants privately discussed the implications of the development. Many argued that charging journalists to meet the nation’s leader undermines the principles of open governance and press freedom. Stakeholders now call for clear guidelines on the use of state facilities to ensure that access to public leadership is not reduced to a transactional affair.