With the economy in a bind and a growing public anger
over his administration’s management of the economy, President Goodluck
Jonathan has taken a rare decision to spend less on food and consumables at the
presidential villa in 2014.
As the budget comes under an increasingly intense
media scrutiny, President Jonathan has given up nearly half of the presidency’s
giant feeding bill of N1 billion, a proposal, two years ago, that shocked
Nigerians and stirred public anger.
The feeding cost has been lowered by N494 million or 45.5
percent in the 2014 budget proposal sent to the National Assembly by the
president.
The 2014 request, if approved by lawmakers, will be the
lowest amount of naira spent by the State House on feeding and allied costs in
two years.
In the 2012 budget presented in late 2011 by the
president, his office and residence as well as those of Vice President Namadi
Sambo were allocated an obscene N993 million for refreshments, catering
services and purchase of kitchen equipment.
That year, approximately N477million was assigned for
foodstuffs and “catering materials supplies” for the president’s office, while
an additional N293 million was to provide “refreshment and meals” for the
president’s comfort at his home and office.
An extra N45.4 million was earmarked to buy canteen and
kitchen equipment for the president’s household, although similar purchases
were made the previous year.
For the vice president’s office in 2012, foodstuff,
catering and materials supplies were scheduled to cost N104 million, while
cooking gas and cooking fuel was to consume N6.2 million.
Refreshments and meals at Mr. Sambo’s office and home
were estimated at N20.8million, and another N45.4 million was allocated for
purchase of kitchen and household equipment at the state house headquarters.
The funds allocated to feed Aso Rock in 2012 were
sufficient to pay about 1,200 of the nation’s growing unemployed graduates a
monthly salary of N70, 000 for a year.
That revelation at the time, published by PREMIUM TIMES,
aggravated public anger and revved up resistance to government’s plan, within
the same period, to remove petrol subsidy, and jack up the pump price of
petrol.
A terribly embarrassed presidency quickly scrambled a
review of the budget, cutting down the proposed feeding bill by N147 million.
But in the two years that have followed, the government
has significantly lowered the feeding bill for the first and second families
and their offices, raising the question how the huge 2012 bill may have been
utilized, since the same purpose is now being served at a cheaper rate.
In 2013, the presidency’s feeding was put at N717.3
million. For 2014, the figure has been scaled downward to N542.8 million, the
new budget shows.
In 2014, for the president’s office and residence, food
stuff and catering materials supplies will cost N200.8 million, while
refreshment and meals will gulp N162.6 million.
Cooking gas and fuel will be purchased at N 9.4 million
while a new set of canteen and kitchen equipment-the same purchase that has
consistently occurred for years-will cost the nation N131.8 million.
For the Vice president’s office, food stuff and catering
materials supplies will cost N23.9 million, refreshment and meals N10.8
million, while cooking gas and fuel cost would be N3.6 million.
The figures are subject to National Assembly’s approval.
Federal revenues have dwindled during the past year with
the government so terribly cash-strapped that it is unable to pay university
teachers and execute key developmental projects.
“It’s all gimmicks”
Analysts however believe the presidential
belt-tightening, by a regime known more for wasting billions on servicing the
exotic tastes of administration officials and outright stealing of scarce
public funds, is not an enough indication that the government is committed to
fiscal responsibility.
“The reduction in the feeding cost was done specifically
to hoodwink the public due to last year’s public outcry,” Olanrewaju Suraju,
chairman of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, told PREMIUM
TIMES Tuesday morning. “There are lots of other outlandish spendings proposed
in the budget and I’m sure that what he reduced in the feeding cost, he has
smuggled it into the budget elsewhere.”
Yomi Ogunsanya, an Abuja-based lawyer spoke along the
same line.
“It’s a good development that he (President Jonathan) has
reduced his feeding bill but that is not enough,” Mr. Ogunsanya said. “If he
wants to be taken seriously, he should cut down on the size of his delegations
to foreign trips, and reduce outrageous allowances for his aides and other
officials.
“He should learn from Malawi President Joyce Banda, who
is selling her country’s presidential aircraft to feed the poor. It is
unacceptable that he (Jonathan) is planning to buy a new aircraft at a time
more than half of our people are hungry.
“It is even irritating that he plans to spend several
millions to feed the animals in his zoo when more than half of Nigerians don’t
have food to eat.
“Then he should tackle corruption headlong. He should
stop sitting on reports indicting his key ministers for corruption. That’s only
when we can begin to take him seriously.”
Source: Premium Times
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