Entitlements of former Presidents and Heads of states were included in the 2016 Budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari
Eleven former Presidents, Heads of State and former Vice Presidents/Chiefs of General Staff are to share N2.3 billion as entitlements in 2016 as contained in the summary of the proposed budget 2016 presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly on Tuesday, December 22.
The former Presidents and former Heads of State are General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, General Olusegun Obasanjo, and Goodluck Jonathan. The former Vice Presidents and former Chiefs of General Staff are Dr. Alex Ekwueme, General Oladipupo Diya, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and Alhaji Namadi Sambo.
According to the Act which provides for the remuneration of former Presidents and former Vice, each former President and former Head of state is entitled to N350,000 per month, while former Vice Presidents and former Chiefs of General Staff are entitled to N250,000 per month for their up-keep.
The Act states: "As from the commencement of this Act, all former-Presidents and Heads of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (in this Act referred to as “former Heads of State”) shall be-(i) paid the sum of N350,000 per month as up-keep allowance; and (ii) entitled to the perquisites of office specified in Part I of the Schedule to this Act; and (b)Vice-Presidents and Chiefs of General Staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (in this Act referred to as “former Vice-Presidents”) shall be- (i) paid the sum of N250,000 per month as up-keep allowance; and (ii) entitled to the perquisites of office specified in Part II of the Schedule to this Act. National Assembly to spend N175bn"
Meanwhile, N115 billion was allocated to the National Assembly in the 2016 budget. This is besides N60 billion allocated for constituency projects.
Under the budget, the federal government plans to spend N20 billion on the Presidential Amnesty Programme which include stipends and allowances of 30,000 Niger Delta Ex-militants- N7.875 billion; Operational cost- N1. 834 billion; Reintegration of transformed ex-militants- N10.291 billion.
Furthermore, the Federal government allocated N200 billion for special capital projects, and N20 billion as sinking Fund for Infrastructural Developments. The budget also contained N5.5 billion to be paid to state governments for repairs of federal roads, while local contractors are to be N5.5 billion.