by Ilemona Onoja
President Muhammdu Buhari’s 2016 Budget is a horribly worded, highly insulting, bad figure hiding joke. To think that we are borrowing N2.2 trillion to fund this joke of a budget is alarming, sad, horrible, and nauseating.
You don’t believe me. Let me itemise some line items from the budget.
1. N326,084,876 on animals at the wildlife conservatory at the presidency.
2. N3,630,000,000 on the purchase of BMW Saloon Cars for the presidency (Stella Oduah on my mind)
3. N87,172,300 for the purchase of Kitchen Equipment & Catering Equipment
4. N322,421,971 for linking of cable to drivers rest room at Villa Admin
5. N764,671,051 for the construction of Recreational facilities at the state house
6. Design and Construction of Vice President’s Residence N3,145,185,569. This is also replicated under the budget of the FCTA as “Design and Construction of Vice President’s Residence = 108,300,451”
7. There is no provision for the clean up of Ogoni land in the budget.
8. Acquisition of land for Office Building for National Lottery Trust Fund = = N500,600,000
9. Affairs of Former Heads of State = N400,190,000. This is separate for the funds for Former heads of States (Salaries emoluments and other wages) which costs around N2.3bn
10. Purchase of Tables for the Ministry of ICT = N415,500,000
11. Purchase of Chairs for the Ministry of ICT = N585,000,000
12. Fencing of Landed Properties for Ministry of Interior (Nigerian Immigration Service) = 200,000,000. Ministry of Interior ( Nigeria Immigration Service)
13. Provision of Water & Sewage Network in Prisons = 455,291,940
14. To improve on the automation of Automation of Citizenship, Business Permits & Expatriate Quota = N200,000,000
15. Procurement of specialised printing machine, equipment and accessories = N563,616,472
16. Digging of a new 220 metre borehole in State House Lagos = N13,831,510
17. General renovation/furnishing of State House HQTRS = N431,980,200
18. Installation of Lightings and electrical fittings at the Villa = N618,604,265
19. Purchase of health/medical equipment for State House Clinic = N3,219,555,017
20. Construction of VIP wing at State House Medical Centre – N308,000,000
These are just 20 items. I have not even gone past page 120 of a 1800 page document. I can safely say this Budget is a Budget of Yams, Rice, Garri and Kulikuli. You may view the entire document HERE.
Ilemona Onoja is a political commentator and legal practitioner based in Abuja. He tweets from @the_harrasser.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
