(Abuja) Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a supplementary budget providing millions of dollars for a presidential yacht and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) for his wife and top government officials has once again stoked tensions. anger of ordinary Nigerians over what they see as a growing economic crisis.
Mr Tinubu on Wednesday signed into law the budget which allocates 38 million for the presidential air fleet and other renovations. Some $6.1 million budgeted earlier for the yacht was earmarked by lawmakers for “student loans” — with Senate approval.
The country’s navy said it had taken delivery of the yacht, but “it has not been paid for.”
Presidential spokesperson Anjuri Ngelale defended the supplementary budget as serving to “strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture and address Nigeria’s critical infrastructure deficit, among other considerations.”
The spokesperson said around 30% of the money would be spent on security and a further 35% on “provision of critical infrastructure”.
Recently, the country’s 460-member National Assembly confirmed that all lawmakers will each receive a new SUV, at a cost of more than $150,000 each. Lawmakers said the vehicles would help them do their jobs better.
Nigeria, one of the poorest countries in the world, is currently seeing food prices continue to rise to record levels. Also growing is the frustration of ordinary Nigerians, who see politicians earning huge salaries while others, such as medical professionals, often have to strike to protest meager salaries.
“It is by the grace of God that I can eat. It’s difficult,” said Nduka Omeje, a trader in Apo resettlement area in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Unions have struggled to convince the government to increase the minimum wage for civil servants by $67 per month. The 2019 wage increase came after workers staged protests.