The N288 billion supplemental budget that President Bola Tinubu sent to the National Assembly in September included the provision, and the lawmakers approved it in five days.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and FCT Minister Nyesome Wike The FCT’s 2024 supplemental budget included N10 billion for rent and furniture for the National Assembly’s presiding officers, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, and their deputies, Barau Jibrin and Ben Kalu, according to a PREMIUM TIMES investigation.
In the N288 billion supplemental budget that President Bola Tinubu sent to the National Assembly in September, the item titled “Renting and Furnishing of Presiding Officers of the National Assembly” (classified code 23010309) was approved by the MPs in five days. The Senate President, the Speaker, the Deputy Senate President, and the Deputy Speaker are the four presiding officials of the National Assembly in Nigeria’s bicameral parliamentary system.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has shown his “generosity” in the last 15 months by giving Vice President Kashim Shettima a N21 billion residential mansion. These four are the most recent Nigerian government officials to receive lavish accommodation allowances or new housing projects. Additionally, the Abuja ministry set aside N25 billion to build homes for 40 justices. With the proposed “rent and furniture” budget, Mr. Wike seems to have shown his generosity to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.
The distributions coincide with Nigeria’s present economic difficulties, which some attribute to the government’s depreciation of the naira and deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry. Dozens of Nigerians have lost their lives in stampedes while attempting to get food in the past three weeks. Promotion of Financial Support on an Article Page Credible journalism is essential to Nigerians. Assist us in reporting it. Encourage fact-based journalism produced by Nigerians for Nigerians. The support of readers like you is essential to our in-depth, well-researched reporting.
With a modest payment, you can support us in keeping news accessible and free for everyone. Every donation ensures that we can continue to provide significant news without paywalls and with high-caliber journalism. While advocating austerity measures for the majority of Nigerians, the current administration has continued what many refer to as “lavish spending.” Among these expenses are the $100 million presidential plane, the disastrous presidential yacht, and opulent sport utility vehicles for National Assembly members, among others. Mr. Wike has already been accused of subtly undermining institutions by utilizing some of this lavish spending on them, but he has refuted the claims.
FCT administration and public building ownership Section 299 of the 1999 Constitution states that the National Assembly is the FCT’s legislative body and the president is its governor. Additionally, Section 302 of the Constitution grants the president the authority to designate a Minister of the FCT to represent him. In what analysts saw as retaliation for the former Rivers State governor’s role in the 2023 presidential race, President Tinubu named Mr. Wike, a well-known figure in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Through the Department of Public Buildings, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is the owner of a number of public buildings in the FCT, including the National Assembly Complex. The Supreme Court Complex, the Presidential Complex, the Federal Ministry Building, the Assembly Complex, and other structures are listed on the department’s website. Nigerians were outraged by the FCT’s 2022 expenditure of over N42 billion to restore a portion of the National Assembly Complex.
The legislative quarters in the Apo neighborhood of Abuja used to house the National Assembly’s members, including the four presiding officers. Nonetheless, the buildings were sold as part of the monetization program that was initiated by the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo. At first, every building was sold, with the exception of the presiding officers’ buildings. The four presiding officers of the 6th Assembly—Senator David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole, and Deputy Speaker Bayero Nafada—purchased the buildings during the Umar Yar’Adua administration.
The government decided to construct new residences for the presiding officers in Katampe Extension, behind the Lungi Barracks, on the outskirts of the city in 2011. The politicians allegedly turned down the offer, though. Another project was later initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan government specifically for the four presiding officers. The project is situated in the Three-Arms Zone, not far from the National Assembly’s main gate. Despite multiple deadlines, the towers’ construction has been stalled for years. In spite of this, PREMIUM TIMES discovered that since 2011, the government has started renting homes for each of the National Assembly’s presiding officers. Sources claim that the Speaker of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, resides in the upscale neighborhood of Maitama, Abuja, while the Senate President,
The supplemental budget for 2024 In a letter to President Tinubu dated September 11, Mr. Wike asked for an extra N288 billion in expenditure as part of the FCT’s supplemental budget. He gave a list of some of the initiatives for which the money is intended. The supplemental budget includes 32 projects in total under the capital component.
In the letter, Mr. Wike stated, “The purpose of this letter is to seek Your Excellency’s approval for the second Supplementary Budget presentation to the National Assembly, a Supplementary Budget to the 2024 Statutory Appropriation Act of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in the sum of N288,000,000,000.00. This is necessary in order to accommodate additional inflows from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and Miscellaneous Revenues in the sums of N8,000,000,000.00 and N280,000,000,000.00, respectively.” The president granted the minister’s request and then forwarded the supplemental budget to the National Assembly for approval. The politicians granted this request, and it was authorized.
Ten new projects were added to the FCT budget, while the remaining 22 projects were already underway and had been given extra financing. For example, N5 billion was added to the N25 billion allocated for the construction of judicial housing, bringing the total budgetary allotment to N30 billion. Along with the legislature, the FCT also set aside N20 billion to renovate the Abuja headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS). Questions that remain unanswered The presiding officers’ N10 billion budgetary allocation is ambiguous and begs several questions: What sort of rent? What sort of furnishings? Given that the National Assembly has its own budget, why does the FCT pay these officers’ rent? Why is the Federal Capital Territory paying N10 billion on rent?
The National Assembly receives its funding through a statutory transfer instrument in order to ensure the institution’s independence. In other words, its budget is provided in one single payment rather than in installments. Despite financial limitations, the National Assembly’s budget has increased during the last two years. The National Assembly has the largest budget ever, N344 billion, for the current fiscal cycle. Normally, the federal legislature would have used these monies to cover all of its expenses, including the presiding officers’ rent. In spite of this record allocation, why does the National Assembly fail to pay the rent for its presiding officers?
Additionally, there is an unfinished housing project for these same officers that has been in the Three-Arms Zone for almost ten years. According to PREMIUM TIMES, the buildings are meant for the Senate President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Deputy Senate President; however, these four buildings have been roofed and plastered, but they are still unfinished more than ten years after construction started. Why isn’t the FCT spending the N10 billion to finish these buildings instead of allocating funds for furniture and rent? To find out, this newspaper sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the FCT’s office to get clarification on the planned expenditure, answering some of the questions raised, but the ministry ignored
The FCT’s budgets are rarely made public, and information requests are frequently disregarded, which seems to be a recurrent trend under Mr. Wike’s leadership. PREMIUM TIMES has previously made multiple FOI requests to the ministry, all of which were turned down. Requests for comment from the Senate and House of Representatives spokespersons were also unanswered. Yemi Aderamodu, the Senate spokesperson, did not return calls to his phone or reply to a WhatsApp text message.
In the meantime, the House spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, first took a call on his phone and asked to get the questions via text. He did not, however, return calls after the message was received. Contextualizing the expense It is crucial to compare this N10 billion allotted for the four people with other comparable expenses in order to comprehend its importance. For example, the federal government set aside N11.5 billion in the anticipated 2025 budget to build 20,000 housing units as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda Housing Scheme. Even though this initiative might benefit 20,000 homes, the rent for these four people is N10 billion.
Additionally, N5.3 billion is set aside in the proposed 2025 budget for the federal government’s statewide national housing initiative. This sum is around half of the N10 billion allocated for four people’s rent and furnishings. Legislators in the lower house combined half of their salary into a fund just before the end-of-year holiday to help the government deal with financial difficulties. According to the House, President Tinubu will receive the N704 million total donation to distribute to the most needy segments of society. But this N704 million only makes up 7.4% of the N10 billion that was set aside for Mr. Tajudeen and his three coworkers’ rent.
The four presiding officers’ allocation highlights what many people consider to be insensitivity and a lack of openness in the utilization of public cash. Civic Media Lab provided assistance in the production of this story. Encouragement The honest and reliable journalism of PREMIUM TIMES We at Premium Times are adamant about the value of excellent journalism. Since not everyone can afford pricey news subscriptions, we are committed to providing thoroughly investigated, fact-checked news that is nevertheless freely available to everyone. We appreciate your attention, whether you use Premium Times for daily updates, in-depth analyses of important national topics, or amusing trending items.
We take pleasure in never putting our articles behind an expensive paywall, but it’s important to recognize that news production costs money. Would you think about making a little monthly donation to help us continue to provide free, easily accessible news?
