Amidst economic hardship and rising inflation in Nigeria, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has allocated N5 billion for the renovation of the vice president’s official residence in Lagos State.
In November 2023, the Federal Government passed a N2.17 trillion supplementary budget, which earmarked N3 billion for renovations at the vice president’s Lagos residence and N2.5 billion for refurbishing his official quarters within the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.
However, an analysis conducted by The PUNCH through GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks government expenditures, revealed that a total of N5,034,077,063 was spent on the Lagos residence renovations in May and September of this year.
A breakdown of the expenditure shows that on May 31, 2024, the State House paid N2,827,119,051 to Denderi Investment Limited, an engineering firm, for renovation work at the vice president’s official quarters in Lagos. On September 5, 2024, the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President made additional payments to the same firm—N726,748,686 for further renovation work and N1,480,209,326 for Phase 2 of the project.
It is worth recalling that in November 2023, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) announced plans to spend N15 billion on constructing a “befitting” residence for the vice president in Abuja.
This announcement was made by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike while defending the FCTA’s N61.5 billion supplementary budget before the House of Representatives committee.
The proposed expenditures have drawn criticism from advocacy groups. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) condemned the allocation, arguing that it contravenes both the Nigerian Constitution and the nation’s international anti-corruption and human rights commitments.
“Approving the N15 billion expenditure for the vice president’s residence would be a serious breach of public trust and a violation of constitutional obligations, especially when the Federal Government plans to allocate 30 percent (N8.25 trillion) of the 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion for debt servicing,” stated Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP’s Deputy Director.
Auwal Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, criticized the current administration for failing to uphold its commitment to reducing the cost of governance.
He noted that the administration’s budgetary allocations over the past 16 months reflected a lack of genuine efforts to cut costs.
Debo Adeniran, Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, added that without a new constitution to regulate government spending, wasteful expenditure would persist in Nigeria’s governance.