From the way it is going, there is no doubt that the President Bola Tinubu-led government is not willing to slow down in taking care of the government officials despite the economic crisis facing Nigerians.
After the presentation of the 2024 budget at the National Assembly, facts emerged that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will spend N15 billion to construct a new residence for the vice president.
This was disclosed by Minister of the FCT, Nysom Wike, while defending the N61.5 billion 2023 supplementary budget of the FCT before the House of Representatives Committee on FCT.
The planned construction is coming despite the allocation of another N2.5 billion for the renovation of the current residence of the VP in the federal government’s supplementary budget recently passed by the National Assembly and signed by the president.
Apart from the allocation for the renovation of the vice president’s residence, there is another N3 billion for the renovation of the same vice president’s residence in Lagos.
In the same supplementary budget, the government will spend N8 billion on the two official residences of the president in Abuja and Lagos. Aside from the residences, the supplementary budget also contains billions allocated for the purchase of cars for the Villa and the Office of the First Lady.
Before these, there were criticisms on the purchase of 2023 models of the Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Prado worth N68.52 billion for the use of the 469 members of the National Assembly.
These are all signs that the current administration appears keen on spending humongous money for the comfort of the president and the vice president and National Assembly members despite the bad state of the nation’s economy.
Coming at a most Nigerians are battling with the rising cost of living due to the government’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and when just N5billion was earmarked for students’ loan, it is indeed sad that the government seems to prioritise comfort for its officials.
Though the president and some top officials of his administration have repeatedly asked Nigerians to be patient with the government, what the people are seeing regularly shows that the leaders are not ready to make sacrifices on their part.
