The State House food budget has grown by 20% in the past three years, raising concerns about government spending amid economic challenges. The rise has sparked discussions on fiscal responsibility.
The budget allocations for food and catering supplies at the offices of the President, Vice-President, and State House headquarters increased by 20% between 2022 and 2024.
The allocations stayed constant at N702.95m for both 2022 and 2023, but increased to N845.07m in 2024.
The President’s office allocated a total of N856.57 million over three years, while approximately N650.84 million was designated for the Vice President’s office during the same period. Budget documents indicated that the State House Headquarters also set aside N743.55 million for these three years.
President Bola Tinubu presented the 2024 appropriations bill to a joint session of the 10th National Assembly in Abuja on November 29, 2023.
On January 1, 2024, following the Senate’s approval, he enacted a budget of N28.7 trillion into law. This amount was N1.2 trillion more than the budget he initially presented to the National Assembly.
The Senate raised the budget by N1.2 trillion, increasing it from N27.5 trillion to N28.7 trillion.
An analysis of the food and catering supplies budget revealed that N245.14 million was allocated for the State House administration, N301.14 million for the President’s office, and N156.66 million for the Vice President’s office.
The allocation for 2023 remained unchanged.
In the 2024 budget, N253.27 million has been allocated for the State House headquarters, N254.27 million for the President’s office, and N337.52 million for the Vice President’s office.
According to investigations conducted by Sunday PUNCH using GovSpend, a civic technology platform that monitors and analyzes federal government expenditures, it was revealed that the State House administration spent around ₦566.22 million on procuring rice and other food items from March to September 2024.
It disbursed a portion of the funds via its transit account and allocated additional amounts to three beneficiaries, one of which was the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Retail Limited.
On March 1, the State House disbursed N275,633,850 to Samdan Global Construction and Resources Limited for providing 1,095 bags of rice weighing 50kg each and 4,095 cartons of seasoning cubes.
On the same day, an additional N280,590,000 was paid to Victor Adeks Nigeria Limited for supplying 3,000 more bags of rice weighing 50kg each.
In his presentation on the implementation of the 2023/2024 budget on October 8, Mr. Olufunso Adebiyi, the Permanent Secretary of the State House, reported that they had achieved a 43 percent completion rate for capital projects in 2024 and an impressive 99 percent success rate in overhead expenditure.
The permanent secretary appreciated a previous rise in the State House allocation for the 2024 budget, highlighting the substantial demands from various cost centers during this challenging fiscal year.
“This has significantly improved our performance as a crucial part of the government, particularly concerning staff welfare and various capital projects. These include renovating the President’s residential quarters at Aguda House, digitizing and computerizing the State House, constructing an office complex, replacing operational vehicles, among others,” he stated.
The chief accounting officer also presented the performances of both the 2023 budget and its supplementary components.
He revealed that N1.65 billion had been approved for personnel costs in 2023, with the same amount spent, resulting in a remaining balance of N439,433.66.
In 2023, an appropriation of N8.29 billion was made for overhead expenses, with actual spending amounting to N8.27 billion. This resulted in a remaining balance of N14.5 million and represented a budget implementation rate of 99.82 percent.
Adebiyi stated that for 2023, a total capital expenditure of N11.2 billion was approved, out of which N10.9 billion was spent, achieving an overall performance rate of 98 percent.
In a previous interview with The PUNCH, Debo Adeniran, the Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, emphasized that government expenditure should be adjusted to match the country’s severe economic conditions.
He argued that there has been significant wastefulness in government to date, and until we adopt a new constitution that regulates government spending, this issue will persist.
As this report was being filed, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, could not be reached for comments.
In a previous explainer, Mr. Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, stated that the allocations were not solely intended for use by the President or his deputy.
Ajayi stated, “When the State House allocates vehicles, it’s reported as if the President will use all of them. Similarly, when provisions are made for food and catering services, it seems he’s expected to eat everything himself.”
A President and Vice President should not, under any circumstances, spend N20 million on food in a year for themselves and their families. It’s unreasonable to think about the sheer volume of food they could consume that would justify such an amount.
In reality, these budgetary allocations are intended to cover various state events and meetings, the hosting of VIPs and foreign dignitaries, as well as visits from other Heads of State and bilateral or multilateral meetings that the State House will handle throughout the year.
Peoplesmind
