Nigerian President Bola Tinubu signed a $2.8 billion budget on Wednesday, which included lavish funding for a presidential yacht, remodeling for his quarters, a fleet of vehicles for his wife’s office, and new bulletproof cars for himself and the first lady.
Tinubu, 70, was elected in a contested March 2023 ballot over cries of fraud from his opponents — rival major-party candidate Atiku Abubakar and outsider businessman Peter Obi. The Nigerian Supreme Court dismissed the last legal challenges against Tinubu’s presidency on October 26.
Tinubu made a big push for business-friendly reforms after taking office, but his economic platform had almost completely disintegrated by the end of his first hundred days. Nigeria’s currency, the naira, hit record lows of a thousand to the dollar on the brisk currency black market, government spending has not been trimmed, inflation is over 26 percent, and labor unions remain restless.
A rare bit of good news is that oil production is up because the Nigerian government finally managed to crack down on rampant theft from its sprawling pipeline network. On the other hand, prices at the gas pump almost tripled because Tinubu ended a popular but very expensive subsidy for fuel.
“The subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care, and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions,” Tinubu said during his inaugural address.
Tinubu’s critics were not pleased to learn his budget allocates sizable amounts of money for a presidential yacht and other perks. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the renovations to Tinubu’s residence are even more controversial than the yacht among Nigerians because the luxurious remodeling job has an enormous price tag but very little practical value. The government insists the yacht at least has some unspecified “operational” value to the navy.
The Nigerian navy said on Thursday that Tinubu’s yacht had been delivered but had “not been paid for.” Lawmakers revised the supplementary budget to divert about $6.1 million of funding from the yacht to student loan programs.
Tinubu’s office insisted the president’s new boat should be seen as part of his commitment to “strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.”
The president is not the only Nigerian politician to reap personal benefits from the latest budget. The Nigerian National Assembly has 460 members, and all of them received brand-new luxury SUVs at a cost of over $150,000 apiece, ostensibly to “help them do their work better.”
“Nigeria, one of the world’s poorest countries, is currently seeing food prices continue to soar to record highs,” the Associated Press observed Thursday. “Also soaring is the frustration of ordinary Nigerians who see politicians earn huge salaries while others like medical professionals often have to go on strike to protest meager wages.”