In Five Years, Presidential Panels Gulp N15bn

About N14.79bn was earmarked for presidential committees supervised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation between 2018 and 2022.

This came as President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated at least 10 committees and councils in 2022 to drive various agendas of the government.

The committees encompass various sectors including education, health, security, the digital economy and the civil service.

Findings by our correspondent showed that funding for the presidential committees gulped N14.79bn between 2018 and 2022.

To keep the presidential committees running, the Federal Government earmarked about N14.97bn for sitting allowances and other remunerations for members of the committees between 2018 and 2022.

In 2018, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which oversees the operations of the committees, earmarked N2.13bn for the panels.

These include N1.73bn for political officers and standing committees, N6m for the organisation of the presidential standing committee on private jetties & other research activities of the special duties office, N187.95m for the presidential standing committee on inventions and innovations and N20m for the presidential standing committee on private jetties.

Others include N8.06m for the presidential committee on barracks rehabilitation, N200m for the presidential advisory committee, N342.12m for the presidential technical committee on land reforms and N3m for the organisation of the presidential advisory committee on the prerogative of mercy activities.

In 2019, the OSGF earmarked N2.5bn for its various committees.

These include N1.73bn for political officers and standing committees, N6.6m for the presidential standing committee on private jetties & other research activities of the special duties office and N168.62m for the presidential standing committee on inventions and Innovations and N20m for the presidential standing committee on private jetties.

Others include N6.52m for the establishment of the presidential committee on e-government, N8.06m for the presidential advisory committee, and N69.62m for the presidential technical committee on land reforms.

In 2020, the OSGF earmarked N1.84bn for running the committees. In 2021, the OSGF earmarked N5.01bn for committees.

A breakdown by Economic Confidential revealed that N1.92bn was allocated for political officers and standing committees.

In 2022, the OSGF budgeted 3.22bn for committees. These include N1.93bn allocated for political officers and standing committees, N50m for the presidential standing committee on private jetties and N100m for the presidential standing committee on inventions and Innovations.

However, in 2023, the Presidency earmarked N3.73bn for political officers and standing committees, the presidential standing committee on private jetties and the presidential standing committee on inventions and Innovations.

The rest include the presidential advisory committee, the presidential technical committee on land reforms, the presidential advisory committee on the prerogative of mercy and the presidential enabling business environment council.

However, in an interview with our correspondent, a sociopolitical activist and leader of the Concerned Nigerians advocacy group, described the spending as “money down the drain.”

Citing the committee set up by the President in December 2020 to review a probe on a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, Adeyanju said the committees are ineffective in performing their mandate.

He said “It’s food for the boys. It’s about political patronage because none of the committees he has set up since assuming office has led to anything significant. Whether it’s to improve the economy, improve societal values, or issues around even the policy, none of them has been able to come up with anything substantial.

When contacted by our correspondent, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, asked our correspondent to contact the OSGF.

The OSGF could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, in September 2022, the President inaugurated an 11-member presidential committee on the national economy. Buhari said although the Nigerian economy had maintained an upward trajectory despite the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, the country’s poor performance in resources mobilisation remained a source of concern.