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FG to Spend N4.8bn on Villa Maintenance in 2018

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  • FG to Spend N4.8bn on Villa Maintenance in 2018

The Federal Government is proposing to spend N4.86bn in the 2018 fiscal year on maintenance of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The budgeted amount for next year when compared to the N4.95bn allocated for annual routine maintenance of villa facilities in the 2017 budget represents a decline of about N90m.

In the 2016 budget, the sum of N3.91bn was allocated for annual routine maintenance of the Presidential Villa by the Federal Government.

The N4.86bn amount for this year is part of the N11.54bn total allocation made for the state house headquarters in the proposed 2018 budget.

The State House has a total capital allocation of N7.1bn while recurrent expenditure was estimated at N4.43bn

In 2017, the state house had a budget of N11.02bm made up of N6.52bn for capital project while recurrent expenditure was estimated at N4.49bn.

The 2018 budget was submitted last Tuesday to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

It has a total allocation of N8.61tn made up of N3.49tn for recurrent, N2.43tn for capital while debt servicing and statutory transfers among others are to gulp the sum of N2.01tn and N456bn respectively.

A breakdown of the state house budget shows that apart from the N4.86bn for annual maintenance, there are outstanding liabilities of N565.65m for routine maintenance for 2016.

In the same vein, the sum of N907.1m was budgeted for phased replacement of vehicles, spares and tyres in the presidential security/police escort, while N284.58m was allocated for renovation work at state house security quarters.

The budget proposal also has a provision of N93.6m for electronic document management system, N17.74m for upgrade of state house library, N28.9m for upgrade of villa ranch and construction of wildlife conservation and N83.7m for purchase of tyres for bulletproof vehicles, ambulances and other utilities and operational vehicles.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, had on Tuesday during the public presentation of the 2018 budget, said the government would continue to spend more on ongoing infrastructure projects that had potential for job creation and inclusive growth.

He said the Federal Government would continue to leverage private capital and counterpart funding for the delivery of infrastructure projects.

The minister said for 2018 capital projects, the government would carry out huge projects in transportation, power, works, housing, health, water resources, agriculture and rural development, mines and steel development, industry , trade and investment, and education.

For instance, he said N35.4bn had been provided for Federal Government National Housing Programme, N10bn for second Niger Bridge, N294bn for construction and rehabilitation of major roads nationwide, N8.9bn for procurements of vaccines, over N50bn for water supply, rehabilitation of dams and irrigation projects nationwide.

He added that N25.1bn had been earmarked for promotion and development of value chains across 30 different commodities, N4bn for agri-business and market development, N46.3bn for special economic zone projects across the geopolitical zones to drive manufacturing and exports and N19.28bn in form of tax credits to support export through Export Expansion Grant, among others.

Budget unacceptable, a misnomer- CACOL, Junaid, others

However, a civil-society organisation, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, condemned the budget for Aso Rock Villa, saying it was “unacceptable and a misnomer.”

The CACOL Director, Debo Adeniran, said, “Several items in the Aso Rock Villa budget are repeated annually and no changes are carried out. You are still going to have budget for kitchen utensils, furniture and others. This is the problem of our budget and the reason why the government has gone ahead with such bogus amounts is because there is no accountability, probity and transparency. If people can raise questions, we can force the amounts down.

“Basically, it is a misnomer and an administration preaching change must not allow such bloated budget. We have just heard about the Aso Rock clinic fraud which was brought to light by even the wife of the President.”

Also, a Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Muhammed, described as unacceptable the budgeted amount for the installations, noting that the budget needed to be scrutinised.

Muhammed said, “I share the concerns of many Nigerians that many items in the 2018 are bloated and unacceptable. If only we will take time to scrutinise the budget, we will find many of such unnecessary items such as the one in focus.

“That the cost of the maintenance of the installations at the villa, put at N4.86billion is more than the installations themselves is laughable and shows that the present government is not being sincere with itself. Such is very unacceptable.”

It is unnecessary, says CIFCN registrar

Commenting on the allocation for maintenance of the villa, the Registrar, Chartered Institute of Finance and Control of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Eohoi, said the huge allocation was unnecessary at a time when Nigerians were experiencing economic hardship.

He said, “That kind of huge allocation for maintenance of the presidential villa is an expenditure that should not be encouraged at a time when the government is involved in huge borrowing to finance its operations and when a majority of Nigerians are suffering the biting economic hardship.

“The government should set its priorities right by ensuring that many of the bad roads are fixed. Why budget such huge amount of money for maintenance of the Villa when many people don’t even have food to eat?

“That amount that was budgeted for maintenance should have been reduced drastically to free up funds for other infrastructure projects.”

The office of President Muhammadu Buhari was repaired after the President came back from 81 days’ medical trip in London, the United Kingdom on August 19.

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

Government

EFCC Nabs Ex-Delta Governor, Okowa, For Alleged N1.3trn Fraud

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Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, over the alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion.

Sources with the EFCC revealed that Okowa visited the EFCC office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday before he was subsequently detained by officials.

The N1.3 trillion reportedly represents the 13% derivation fund from the federation account between 2015 and 2023.

It was gathered that Okowa was at the Port Harcourt office of the Commission following an invitation from investigators probing the allegations against him.

The former governor was said to have been apprehended no sooner than he arrived at the anti-graft office.

Okowa was also accused of failing to account for the funds, as well as another N40 billion he allegedly claimed was used to acquire shares in UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas.

Sources said the former governor reportedly bought shares worth N40 billion in one of the country’s major banks, representing an 8% equity stake, to support the offshore LNG project.

The funds are alleged to have been misappropriated for other purposes.

They noted that investigators are also examining the alleged diversion of funds by the former governor to acquire estates in Abuja and Asaba, Delta State.

Okowa was the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 election.

He was the governor of Delta State from 2015 to 2023 and was succeeded by Sheriff Oborevwori, the incumbent Governor.

When contacted, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the arrest but declined further comment on the matter.

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Government

FG Frees Minors Remanded For Protesting Hunger In Nigeria

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Some minors who joined the nationwide #EndBadGovernance in Nigeria have regained their freedom.

Their release followed the striking out of the treason charge against them by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Investors King had reported that the Federal Government through its security agencies arrested and preferred treason allegations against the minors who participated in the August #EndBadGovernance protest.

However, President Bola Tinubu had directed the release of the minors owing to the outrage that greeted their arrest, prosecution and incarceration.

Carrying out the presidential directive when the matter resumed on Tuesday, counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, made an application for discontinuation of the case.

Abubakar, who is the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), premised his application on provisions of Sections 174(1), (b), and (c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

He informed the court that the AGF had officially taken over the case file, saying the Federal Government no longer has interest in the case against the protesters.

The DPPF also applied for the proceeding to be conducted without the presence of the minors in the courtroom, in line with provisions of Section 266 (b) of the ACJA, 2015, and Section 1 of the Child’s Rights Act.

Counsel to the defendants, including Mr Femi Fanala, SAN, did not oppose the application.

To this end, Justice Obiora Egwuatu struck out the charge against the protesters who were minors.

Recall that the judge had last Friday admitted the 114 protesters arraigned by the police to N10 million bail each with two sureties each in like sum.

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Government

Knocks, Kudos For Judiciary Over Stoppage of Allocations to Rivers State as Fubara Boasts of Coping Without FG’s Funds

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Siminalayi Fubara

A mixture of condemnation and praises has trailed a judgement of a Federal High Court that stopped the release of state allocations to the Rivers State Government.

Investors King had reported that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the stoppage of the release of monthly federal allocations to Rivers State.

Justice Abdulmalik predicated her action on the grounds that the state government was in violation of the Constitution as regarding the state expenditures.

According to the judge, the current budget being operated by the state was not passed by a lawful arm of the Rivers State House of Assembly, therefore, Fubara is not entitled to allocations from the government at the centre.

Meanwhile, some stakeholders in the country have knocked the judiciary over the decision, calling on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun to rein in on judges’ actions over the political crisis ravaging Rivers.

For former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the judiciary should be cautioned against setting the South-South State on fire.

In a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the former Vice President, said it was appalling that some elements loyal to the Federal Government were pulling the strings from behind.

Atiku wondered why Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the order when it was public knowledge that Rivers State had already challenged the Court of Appeal’s judgement on the legality of Rivers State’s 2024 budget.

He, however, called on Justice Kekere-Ekun to ensure that those found wanting are disciplined in order to restore the fading glory of the nation’s judiciary.

In the same vein, Chief Emeka Kalu, National Coordinator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Coalition observed that the ongoing crisis plaguing Rivers State must be handled with caution to save it from unnecessarily being flamed in uncontrollable state of lawlessness.

Kalu in the statement said the judiciary is expected to maintain its integrity and protect her independence by working to avoid being politically purchased to harm democratic processes and the ethics of law.

According to him, the recent judgement by the Abuja Federal High Court division directing the RMAFC to stop releasing statutory monthly allocation to the State government was done out of bias and politically motivated plans to disrupt Fubara ‘s administration.

The group affirmed that it remains the height of injustice for a political party under the guise of personal interest to continue raising the dust of anarchy against the will of the people and the judiciary is expected to redeem and revitalize the failed system instead of allowing herself to be used to ruin the polity.

On the contrary, the National Democratic and Change Coalition has hailed the court for the judgment banning further release of allocations to Rivers and called on Governor Fubara to refund all monies spent without appropriation to the state coffers.

The coalition, while expressing satisfaction with the ruling, said the people of Rivers State have been vindicated and the long-awaited justice has been served on the governor.

Reacting via a press release by John Uloko, president of the coalition hailed Justice Joyce Abdulmalik for the judgment, saying that since January 2024, Rivers State had received and spent allocations based on an “illegitimate” budget, thereby describing it as a “constitutional aberration”.

The group, made up of lawyers, agreed with the court that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the constitutional provision.

It added that the ruling is a victory for democracy and will teach rogue governors the bitter lesson that the Constitution of the Federal Republic must be respected and the sanctity of the nation’s democratic institutions upheld irrespective of their political desperation.

Nonetheless, the embattled Governor Fubara, on Wednesday said the restriction placed on the state allocations is “the least” of his problems.

Governor Fubara stated this during a special thanksgiving service organised by the state government to celebrate his administration’s resilience amid escalating political crises, which began with the arson attack on the State House of Assembly complex exactly one year ago.

Governor Fubara assured that despite the court order, his administration would continue payments to contractors and ensure workers’ salaries are disbursed from today (Thursday).

He also confirmed that allocations for the 23 Council Chairmen would be credited, as the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee procedures have been completed.

The governor encouraged his supporters to remain resilient, assuring them that all challenges are surmountable.

Reflecting on his administration’s success, Governor Fubara noted that despite predictions that his government would not last even a week, he has successfully led for over a year.

He said his administration has also conducted local government elections against all odds and maintained a full cabinet despite attempts to undermine his leadership through resignations.

Highlighting his administration’s progress, he mentioned ongoing project executions across the state, countering critics who claimed he would be unable to deliver.

He also cited recent reports that position Rivers State as one of the leaders in financial accountability and transparency.

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