An insight into Buhari's budget of change has revealed more startling details of over-bloating and misplaced priorities.
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari will spend N3.914bn on the maintenance of the Presidential Villa, Abuja this year.
This is apart from another N282.962m he has already set aside for the General Maintenance Services of State House (Headquarters); and the N41.844m budgeted for General Maintenance Services of State House Operations (Vice President).
These figures are contained in the details of the 2016 Appropriation Act recently signed into law by the President and made available on the website of the Budget Office.
According to the details, the Federal Government will pay the N3.914bn to a construction giant, Julius Berger Plc, saddled with the responsibility of maintaining the seat of power.
The amount is tagged Annual Routine Maintenance of Villa Facilities.
The State House Operations (President) got a total allocation of N1.698bn in the budget while State House Operations (Vice-President) got a total allocation of N289.617bn.
Out of the N282.962m budgets for General Maintenance Services of State House (Headquarters), N182.079m will be spent on maintenance of motor vehicles/transport equipment; N11.545m for the maintenance of office furniture; N27.846m for the maintenance of office/Information Technology equipment; N13.620m for the maintenance of plants/generators and N47.870m for “other maintenance services.”
The breakdown of the N41.844m budgeted for General Maintenance Services of State House Operations (Vice President) shows that N27.139m is for the maintenance of motor vehicles/transport equipment; N1.451m for the maintenance of office furniture; N4.422m for the maintenance of plants/generator; and N8.832m for “other maintenance services.”
Under Materials and Supplies, N103.470m is budgeted for foodstuff/catering materials supplies; N321.070m for miscellaneous; N276.879m for honorarium and sitting allowance; while N44.190m is allocated to publicity and advertisement.
N32.368m is allocated to General Consulting and Professional Services.
Under that category, financial consulting got N25.063m; N2.713m allocated to legal services; and N4.591 budgeted for budget preparation.
The Federal Government will also be buying recreation materials worth N12.075m for the Presidential Villa during the year.
Source: Punch