Mr Tinubu’s controversial decision to allocate $38 million for the presidential aircraft fleet and other upgrades. The fee for the boat was originally $6.1 million and was included in the “student loan” category by lawmakers.
Nigerian Presidential Spokesperson Anjuri Ngelele said, “This supplementary budget is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s security system and addressing the budget deficit in infrastructure investment”.
The spokesperson revealed that about 30% of the money would be spent on security and another 35% on “critical infrastructure provision”.
Mr Bola Tinubu inspects the Guard of Honor after being sworn in as President of Nigeria on May 29, 2023. Photo: AP
Additionally, the AP said the Nigerian Parliament recently confirmed that each lawmaker will receive a new SUV at a price of more than 150,000 USD/unit. Lawmakers argue that being equipped with SUVs will help them do their jobs better.
It is known that at present there are 460 members in the Parliament of Nigeria.
Nigerians are angry over the budget spending millions of dollars on transportation of the President, the First Lady and the country’s top officials.
Nigeria is seeing record high food prices while people’s wages are very low.
Nigeria recently implemented a wage increase policy in 2019 after labor strikes began. The minimum wage for Nigerian civil servants is currently 67 USD/month.
