Headlines
Supplementary Budget: Presidency Plans to Spend N28bn on Cars, Houses for Tinubu, Wife, Shettima
Reports reaching The Boss says the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government is planning to spend about N28 billion for the renovation of the official quarters of President Bola Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima in Abuja and Lagos as well as buy cars for the presidency and Tinubu’s wife, Oluremi.
On Monday, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, declared that the Federal Government would request permission to appropriate more than N2 trillion for the 2023 supplemental budget.
See breakdown:
This is a 9.16 per cent increase from the N21.83 trillion 2023 Appropriations Bill signed into law on January 3, 2023, by former President Muhammadu Buhari, marking it Nigeria’s highest budget ever.
Details from the supplemental budget indicate that President Tinubu plans to spend over N4 billion on renovations of his official mansion in Abuja and about 2.5 billion on renovations for his vice president’s official residence.
In a similar vein, the president plans to renovate his official residence in Lagos, the Dodan Barracks, for approximately N4 billion. And the renovation for the official residence of the VP in Lagos is expected to gulp about N4 billion.
These figures have drawn wide reactions from different quarters as many Nigerians continue to suffer the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.
In his inaugural speech on May 29, Mr Tinubu declared the removal of the petrol subsidy, which caused the price of petrol to rise by about 200 percent, from about N200 to over N500.
While many groups have applauded the President for acting quickly to remove the subsidies, which experts estimate have taken billions of dollars out of the nation’s economy, some have also criticised the administration for its propensity to engage in extravagant spending, urging them to make greater sacrifices to lower the cost of government.
Last month the National Assembly declared it would be spending an estimated N57.6 billion for the official vehicles of its 109 senators and 360 members at the House of Representatives.
The spokesperson for the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, told Sunday PUNCH correspondent that members of the House had started taking delivery of the vehicles.
Rotimi said, “Some members have started taking delivery of their vehicles. Priority was given to women in the parliament, people with any form of disability and the elderly. The management has also ensured that only members who have been fully disposed of their court cases will be given the vehicles to avoid problems.”
Peoples Gazette
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.”
