Nigeria’s ₦5 Billion Spend On VP Shettima’s Lagos Lodge Sparks Controversy

In November 2023, the Federal Government passed a supplementary budget of ₦2.17 trillion, allocating ₦3 billion for the Lagos residence and ₦2.5 billion for renovations at the Vice President’s official quarters in the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

However, an analysis by The PUNCH through the civic tech platform, GovSpend, revealed that ₦5.03 billion was spent on renovating the Lagos residence between May and September 2024.

The breakdown shows that on May 31, 2024, ₦2.83 billion was paid to Denderi Investment Limited, an engineering firm, for renovations at the Vice President’s Lagos quarters. In September, the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President made additional payments totaling ₦2.2 billion, covering further work and Phase 2 of the project.

In a related development, in November 2023, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) revealed plans to spend ₦15 billion to build a “befitting” residence for the Vice President in Abuja. This was announced by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike during his presentation of the FCTA’s ₦61.5 billion supplementary budget to the House of Representatives committee.

These spending plans have attracted criticism from advocacy groups. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) condemned the expenditures, arguing that such allocations violate the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s anti-corruption and human rights commitments.

“Approving ₦15 billion for the Vice President’s residence would constitute a breach of public trust, especially when the government plans to allocate ₦8.25 trillion, or 30%, of its ₦27.5 trillion 2024 budget to debt servicing,” stated Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP’s Deputy Director.

Civil society leader Auwal Rafsanjani also criticized the administration for not taking sufficient steps to reduce the cost of governance, while Debo Adeniran, Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, pointed out that wasteful government spending will persist without a new constitution to regulate it.