The State House recently spent a staggering N244,654,350 on the purchase and supply of tyres in a single day, according to findings by Daily Trust. An investigation and data gathered from Govspend, a portal documenting Presidential Villa expenditure, revealed that the State House made these payments for an unspecified quantity of bulletproof tyres and Westlake tyres during the week President Bola Tinubu’s government marked its first year in office. Tinubu took over from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29, 2023.
Documents show that payments of N200,583,390, N38,070,000, and N6,000,960 were made for these items on May 21, 2024. Two separate payments were made for the purchase and supply of tyres for bulletproof vehicles and another five armoured bulletproof tyres to Obi-Wealth Enterprises Nigeria Limited for the sums of N200,583,390 and N38,070,000. A search on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website revealed that the company is inactive.
Hommy & Fay Investments Limited, which is active on the CAC portal, handled the supply of an unspecified number of Westlake tyres (315/80R22) for N6,000,960. Attempts to get reactions from the presidency over this expenditure did not yield results as several calls made to the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, were not answered, and a message sent to him had not been replied to at the time of this report.
Twenty-four hours after the tyre payments were made, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, apologized to Nigerians over the nationwide hardship. Speaking during the ministerial sectoral update, he said the policies of the Tinubu-led government were on track despite the currency crisis and inflation, which have frustrated economic growth.
“So what’s the answer to all of these? It’s to restore macroeconomic stability that will ensure that investors, both domestic and international, put their faith in our economy once again. And we are all doing this without a blame game. I apologize for the pain that may be caused, but it is necessary. Is our strategy right? Absolutely. We believe our strategy is right, but it requires occasional calibration. Put good money to use,” he said.
Nigeria’s inflation has risen to a 28-year high, worsening the cost of living—a situation largely attributed to President Tinubu’s policies. Critics have accused the Tinubu administration of “frivolous spending” despite numerous pleas to citizens over the current hardship. There was backlash the last time the president asked Nigerians to make sacrifices for the progress of the nation. After observing the Eid-el Kabir prayer at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, Tinubu stressed the need for the people to follow the path of sacrifice to make the nation great.
The comment elicited reactions from Nigerians, civil society organizations, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others. An economist and lecturer at Saadatu Rimi University of Education, Kumbotso, Kano, who is also the Director of the Fiscal Discipline and Development Advocacy Centre (FIDAC), Dr. Abdulsalam Kani, said the government had failed to fulfill its part of the bargain, especially promises made to Nigerians.
“The government has removed the fuel subsidy and increased the electricity tariff, plunging many into difficulty. Nigerians were promised that the Port Harcourt refinery would begin production in December last year, and that has not happened. Despite these failures, the administration is making plans to buy new aircraft for the president and vice president,” he said. He added that the government had also failed to address rising inflation, which is currently above 33 percent.
