NIGERIA : A review of President Bola Tinubu’s proposed 2025 budget by JULISHA MEDIA has revealed that a total sum of N255.7million has been proposed to be spent on buying Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for the head of state and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Another N127,864,107 will be spent on procurement of operational vehicles at the presidential conference car unit (CCU) fleet, Abuja.
This was contained in the 2025 fiscal appropriation bill (proposed budget) President Tinubu presented before the joint National Assembly - the Senate and the House of Representatives on December 18, 2024.
Further review of the proposed budget showed that the President proposed to spend the sum of N466.8 million on renovation of the Vice President’ Quarters at the State House and presidential villa.
Also, another N298.3 million will be spent on renovation of the Vice President guest house in Asokoro, Abuja.
Just as we had reported earlier, President Tinubu in the official document of the proposed 2025 budget, proposed that his administration would spend the sum of N164,990,169 on the purchase of tyres for bullet proof vehicles, plain cars, CCU vehicles, platform trucks, Jeeps, Ambulances and other utility and operational vehicles for State House.
The N164.9 million for the purchase of the vehicles including operational vehicles as indicated on page seven (7) of the 2025 proposed budget Executive Proposal official document, is different from N3,661,566,123 proposed for the purchase of State House operational vehicles on page eight (8) of the same document.
It is also different from the sum of N1,098,469,837 proposed to be spent on replacement of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) vehicles for the State House.
Meanwhile, Tinubu in his address while presenting the proposed budget before the National Assembly had said, “This budget christened, "Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity," strikes at the very core of our Renewed Hope Agenda and demonstrates our commitment to stabilising the economy, improving lives, and repositioning our country for greater performance.”
“The 2025 budget that I present today is one of restoration. It seeks to consolidate the key policies we have instituted to restructure our economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments, bolster oil and gas production, get our manufacturing sector humming again and ultimately increase the competitiveness of our economy." he Added.
Meanwhile, The presiding officers of the National Assembly—Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, and their deputies, Barau Jibrin and Ben Kalu – were allocated N10 billion for rent and furniture in the 2024 supplementary budget of the FCT.
The budget item, titled “Renting and Furnishing of Presiding Officers of the National Assembly”, has the classification code 23010309 in the N288 billion supplementary budget President Bola Tinubu transmitted to the National Assembly in September, which was passed within five days by the lawmakers.
Under Nigeria’s bicameral legislative system, there are four presiding officers of the National Assembly: the Senate President, the Speaker, the Deputy Senate President, and the Deputy Speaker.
These four are the latest Nigerian government officials to receive lavish accommodation allowances or new housing projects from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, whose “generosity” in the last 15 months includes a N21 billion residential mansion for Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The Abuja minister also allocated N25 billion for the construction of houses for 40 judges.
With the planned “rent and furniture” budget, Mr Wike appears to have extended his generosity across the three arms of government—executive, judiciary, and legislature.
The allocations come amidst the current economic hardships in Nigeria, which experts believe is due to the government’s policies of deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector and the devaluation of the naira.
Within the last three weeks, dozens of Nigerians have died in stampedes while trying to collect food items.
The current administration has continued what many describe as “lavish spending” while preaching austerity measures for most Nigerians.
Some of these expenditures include a $100 million presidential jet, the botched presidential yacht, luxurious sport utility vehicles for members of the National Assembly, and others.