FG spends N5bn on VP’s residence renovations amid economic crisis

Despite Nigeria’s widespread economic hardship and rising inflation, the Federal Government has allocated a staggering N5 billion for the renovation of the vice president’s official residence in Lagos State.

The funds, part of the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget passed in November 2023, included an initial N3 billion earmarked for this project and an additional N2.5 billion for the vice president’s official quarters within Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

However, investigations by GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks government expenditures, revealed that over N5 billion was spent in 2024 for the Lagos residence alone. On May 31, N2.8 billion was paid to Denderi Investment Limited for renovation works. Later, on September 5, an additional N726.7 million and N1.48 billion were disbursed for further and phase two renovations, respectively.

This spending comes alongside plans by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration to construct a new N15 billion official residence for the vice president in Abuja. FCT Minister Nyesom Wike defended this expenditure while addressing the House of Representatives committee on the FCT’s 2023 supplementary budget.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), an advocacy group, has criticized these expenditures, deeming them a breach of the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s anti-corruption commitments.

“It will be a grave violation of the public trust and constitutional oath of office for the Senate to approve the plan to spend N15bn on ‘a befitting residence’ for the Vice President at a time when the Federal Government is set to spend 30 per cent (that is, N8.25tn) of the country’s 2024 budget of N27.5tn on debt service costs,” SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, stated.

The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, said the current administration had not been truthful about its stance to reduce the cost of governance, noting that if it had been sincere, it would have reduced allocations in its various implemented budgets over the last 16 months.

Also, the Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said until a new constitution is formulated to regulate government spending, the country won’t get rid of profligacy in its governance.