HOW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PLANS TO SPEND 42 BILLION ON FOOD AND FEEDING AT ASO ROCK: Vital Questions

On the 14^th of December 2016, the draft of the 2017 budget tagged “Budget of Recovery and Growth” was presented to the house of assembly for review and possible passage. One of the major issues that drew attention was the amount budgeted for expenditure on food and food related items.

In total, the whooping sum of 42 billion was budgeted for food and feeding items at the Aso Rock Villa. The breakdown is as follows

The State house;

Total budget for Food, Cooking Gas and Kitchen Utensils   - 850 million

Food stuffs and Cooking Materials – 360 Million naira

Kitchen Utensils – 431 million

Cooking gas – 63 million

The Office of the President in the same Villa;

Food stuffs and Cooking Materials – 115 million

Kitchen Utensils – 101 million

Cooking gas – 22 million

The Office of the Vice President

Food stuffs and Cooking Materials – 53 million

Kitchen Utensils – 12 million

Cooking gas – 246 thousand

Office of the Chief of Staff

Food Related Expenditure – 16 million

Lagos Liaison Office

Food Related Expenditure – 140 million

Looking at all these above, some vital questions come to mind

1.     What is the difference between catering materials and cooking utensils?

2.     What happened to the cooking utensils that were used last year; are all the pots, pans, plates, spoons, Knives e.tc disposable that the ones used last year cannot be used again this year?

3.     What is the distance between the President, Vice President and Chief of Staff’s office that they have to have separate Kitchen?

4.     With huge amount of money for office Kitchens, it seems every day at work, they have a buffet.

One would think that as we are in recession, government will cut back on some of these lavish spending; but no, the government never makes sacrifices, they only encourage the masses to bear the burden of the recession.

“Budget of growth and recovery of stomachs at Aso Rock”

What is your take on the issue?