In the face of rising inflation and widespread economic challenges, the Nigerian Federal Government has controversially allocated N5bn towards the renovation of the vice president’s official residence in Lagos.
This comes as part of a larger N2.17tn supplementary budget approved in November 2023, which earmarked N3bn for the Lagos property and N2.5bn for renovations in Abuja.
A breakdown of the spending, sourced from the GovSpend platform, shows that the government paid N5.03bn this year for the Lagos residence alone, with N2.83bn paid to Denderi Investment Limited for work completed in May and an additional N2.21bn in September for ongoing renovations.
This allocation is part of a larger renovation plan for the VP’s official residences.
In a parallel development, the Federal Capital Territory plans to invest N15bn in constructing a new residence for the vice president in Abuja, according to the FCT Minister.
Criticism has mounted over these expenditures. Advocacy group Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) condemned the spending, citing it as wasteful at a time when the government is spending a significant portion of the national budget on debt servicing.
SERAP and other civil society leaders argue that such spending undermines the government’s claims of reducing the cost of governance.
Until new constitutional measures are implemented to regulate government spending, experts believe that fiscal irresponsibility will continue to plague the country.
