President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will spend N11.92billion on meals, refreshments and local/foreign trips in the 2023 budget, according to the proposal presented last week to the National Assembly.
President Muhammdu Buhari, on October 7, 2022, presented a budget proposal of N20.51trillion for the 2023 fiscal year to a joint session of the National Assembly, with the budget standing about N750billion higher than the N19.76trillion earlier proposed in the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
On foreign and local trips, the president and his vice will spend, according to the 2023 expenditure outlook, N1.58billion for aircraft maintenance, while N1.60billion is earmarked for the maintenance and overhaul of the Gulfstream GV and CL605 aircraft engines.
Both officers will also be spending a total of N508.71million on foodstuff and refreshments..
An analysis of the appropriation bill shows that the Office of the President will be spending N2.49billion on local and foreign trips, while that of the Vice-President will be spending N846.61million.
Additionally, government will be spending N250million on aircraft fuelling, just as purchase of air navigational and defence equipment will be gulping N1.50billion, even as N650million will be going for a new mobile helicopter landing pad.
Bank charges will gulp N36.15million and insurance premium on all 10 aircraft in the fleet is billed to cost N180million.
In the document, the PAF’s budget is grouped under the Office of the National Security Adviser, even as the Presidency had revealed that the PAF maintains 10 aircraft since the inception of the Buhari government in May 2015.
These include: Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800 or NAF 001), one Gulfstream 550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X, one Hawker Siddeley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters and two AgustaWestland AW 101 helicopters. Nevertheless, not all of the funds will be directly flight-related.
In the PAF budget also, N40.45million was earmarked for the construction and equipping of a new presidential kitchen and crew rest area; N80.50million for the construction and equipping of a fleet defence coordination centre; N120million for the renovation and equipping of the PAF Lagos warehouse; N100.75million for the construction of six units of four bedrooms for senior officers and road network, and N100.45million for the purchase of one marauder vehicle for force and assets protection.
Both the president and his vice’s offices will also be spending a total of N508.71million on foodstuffs and refreshments, even as the amount stands at N331.79million and N176.92million for the offices of the President and Vice-President, respectively.
In the 2023 proposal, however, only nine items were labelled as new or ongoing, amounting to N3.44billion.
