Nigerians have blasted President Bola Tinubu for building an official residence for Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the sum of N21bn despite the economic hardship in the country.
The new residence of the Vice President, located adjacent to the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation was commissioned on Friday. It has an office for the Wife of the Vice President, a mosque, chapel and recreational facilities among other facilities.
Speaking at the ceremony, FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, disclosed that the contract for the Vice President’s residence was first awarded in 2010, at a cost of N7 billion.
He added that the contract was later abandoned in 2015 in its determination to complete the edifice; the current leadership of the FCT in January 2024 sought for and obtained approval for a review of the contract to the sum of N21 billion, leading to its completion 14 years after commencement of the project.
The new residence of the Vice President, located adjacent to the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, has an office for the Wife of the Vice President, a mosque, chapel and recreational facilities among other facilities.
When the NTA Network News posted the video of the commissioning on its official Facebook page, many Nigerians condemned the government for extravagant spending while urging the citizens to endure hardship.
Others wonder why a government that cannot pay N100,000 as minimum wage for struggling workers will spend a whopping N22bn on a building for the Vice-President alone.
Osita Nicholas Osita wrote” Every four years construction of VP residence. wasting billions on a house one office holder will live for just 4 yrs. But your citizens are living in squabble, face me I face you, slums, no running water, no access roads. Wish a country”.
Umar A DG who also commented on the post wrote “Yet there is no money to make life better for the poor”.
While Sadiq Sa’id Ibrahim Alfagaweey said “This is NIGERIA, where wasteful resources became paradigm and competition among the incumbent government”, another commenter, Lawal Shehu Kaura described the commissioning as ‘misplaced priorities’.
Adeola Akinola Joseph commented “And they still claim that Nigeria is poor”.
Few weeks ago, Akin Osuntokun, a former presidential aide, who served as the director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council in the 2023 elections accused the Tinubu administration of engaging in profligacy.
He said “They also budgeted N15 billion to build a mansion for the vice-president. Where was the vice-president staying before? Was he staying in a kitchen? These people just take everything for granted. There is nothing wrong in building a house for the vice-president but we have to prioritise. The building shouldn’t come now when the people are struggling to feed themselves”.
