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2022 Budget: Presidency Appropriates N150bn to Self for Trips, Food, Others
The Federal Government has earmarked N150 billion to the presidency in the 2022 budget, including N135 million for meals and N2 billion for international trips.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday presented an appropriation bill of N16.39 trillion – the total expenditure of the federal government in 2022.
According to the budget details, the presidency will receive N91.63bn, N16.25bn, N42,71bn for personnel, overhead costs and capital projects, respectively, totalling N150,590,609,934.
The budget details for the presidency listed 17 items, including budget earmarked for state house headquarters, state house operations — offices of president and vice-president, office of the chief staff to the president, office of the chief security officer to the president and state house medical centre.
Others are state house Lagos liaison office, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission & its centres, office of the chief economic adviser to the president, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure were listed in the presidency budget details.
A breakdown of the budget proposal shows that N12.31 billion was allocated for the state house headquarters, while N24.83 billion and N1.18 billion were budgeted for the offices of the president and vice-president, respectively.
N2BN FOR BUHARI, OSINBAJO’S OFFICES’ INT’T TRIPS
In the budget proposal, the state house headquarters was earmarked N73 million for international travel and transport while local travel and transport (training) will get N31.4 million. The budget also made provision of N57.7 million for local travel and transport (others).
For the office of the president, N1.53 billion was budgeted for international travel and transport (others), while N775.6 million was earmarked for local travel and transport (others).
For the office of the vice-president, N476.2 million was budgeted for international travel and transport (others) while N301.9 million was earmarked for local travel and transport (others).
The development means that the offices of the president and vice-president gulped N2,009,750,909 in the 2022 budget for international travel.
N135M FOR STATE HOUSE HQ’S REFRESHMENTS AND MEALS
The budget details also show that N135,688,651 was earmarked for the refreshment and meals in the state house headquarters, while N120,699,558 was allocated for fuel and lubricants (general) in the state house.
For the office of the president, N30.6 million was earmarked for refreshment and N301.1 million allocated for foodstuff and catering materials supplies.
For the office of the vice-president, N20.2 million was earmarked for refreshment and meals, while N156.6 million was allocated for foodstuff and catering materials supplies
In the state house budget, N1.9 billion was earmarked for the purchase of fixed assets, out of which N1.6 billion was budgeted for the purchase of motor vehicles.
No allocation was given to purchase motor vehicles for the office of the president but N30.8 million was earmarked for the item in the office of the vice-president.
The construction of the presidential wing at the state house medical centre tagged ongoing was earmarked N21.9 billion.
N687.4M EARMARKED FOR STATE HOUSE MEDICAL CENTRE
In the 2022 budget, the state house medical centre gulped N687,425,876 as total expenditure.
The breakdown of the budget details shows that N355,695,664 was earmarked for capital expenditure.
The details of the capital expenditure show that construction of the dental wing extension in the state house medical clinic and outstanding liabilities on reclamation and earth filling tagged ongoing gulp N30,000,000.
Procurement of medical equipment tagged ongoing to gulp N270,695,664, while N55,000,000 was budgeted for the construction of 2 blocks of 24 units three-bedroom flats at the state house tagged new.
The state house Lagos liaison office would receive N301,391,917 as total expenditure, out of which capital expenditure gulped N206,111,515.
TheCable
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
