Since coming to power six years ago, the president’s office has spent N5 billion on vehicles – enough to build 500 health centres at N10 million each.

Nigeria’s cash-strapped government will likely do everything to meet its big-on-paper-light-on-impact budgets except one: cut its administrative cost.

As the government deals with budget deficits year after year, it prefers to pile debt rather than cut back on a costly lifestyle that has eaten away at national budgets for decades. A key beneficiary of that extravagant culture is President Muhammadu Buhari. The president preaches prudence in government spending in public, but the budgets he signs off annually tell a different story.

In 2022, the president’s office will spend a whopping N1.6 billion on new vehicles – the fourth largest by any government office. That comes just a year after the office spent nearly half a billion on the same item.

Since coming to power six years ago, the president’s office has spent N5 billion on vehicles – enough to build 500 health centres at N10 million each. It has spent billions more on food, uniforms, travels, a huge presidential air fleet, president’s hospital and more.

The expenditures are an example of how Nigeria’s federal and state governments annually channel scarce public resources into projects that sustain their flashy lifestyles while critical programmes that should benefit citizens are perpetually underfunded.

While the Buhari government has successfully increased Nigeria’s aggregate spending compared to previous administrations, a bulk of that rise still finances non-essential items.

As the budgets and their deficits rise since 2015, so has the cost of governance that covers everything from fuel to printing paper to “welfare packages”

President Muhammadu Buhari in his official car
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari and wife in official car

Buhari spending billions on new cars while borrowing to fund big government
Since coming to power six years ago, the president’s office has spent N5 billion on vehicles – enough to build 500 health centres at N10 million each.
ByAyodeji AdegboyegaandRonald Adamolekun November 15, 2021 5 min read
Nigeria’s cash-strapped government will likely do everything to meet its big-on-paper-light-on-impact budgets except one: cut its administrative cost.

As the government deals with budget deficits year after year, it prefers to pile debt rather than cut back on a costly lifestyle that has eaten away at national budgets for decades. A key beneficiary of that extravagant culture is President Muhammadu Buhari. The president preaches prudence in government spending in public, but the budgets he signs off annually tell a different story.

In 2022, the president’s office will spend a whopping N1.6 billion on new vehicles – the fourth largest by any government office. That comes just a year after the office spent nearly half a billion on the same item.

Since coming to power six years ago, the president’s office has spent N5 billion on vehicles – enough to build 500 health centres at N10 million each. It has spent billions more on food, uniforms, travels, a huge presidential air fleet, president’s hospital and more.

The expenditures are an example of how Nigeria’s federal and state governments annually channel scarce public resources into projects that sustain their flashy lifestyles while critical programmes that should benefit citizens are perpetually underfunded.

While the Buhari government has successfully increased Nigeria’s aggregate spending compared to previous administrations, a bulk of that rise still finances non-essential items.

As the budgets and their deficits rise since 2015, so has the cost of governance that covers everything from fuel to printing paper to “welfare packages”.


The N16.4 trillion budget for 2022 has a shortfall of more than N6 trillion and recurrent expenditure of more than N4 trillion, meaning that for every N160 the government spends, N60 will be borrowed and N40 will go to financing government operations, not building badly needed roads and hospitals.

Nigeria’s public debt has risen the most under the Buhari administration when compared to previous governments since 1999, and foreign debt has grown three times more than the combined figure recorded by the past three administrations, a PREMIUM TIMES analysis showed.

The spending on vehicles follows a trend. For 2021, the president requested the National Assembly to approve N18.9 billion for the purchase of new vehicles for government offices. Of that amount, N336 million was proposed to buy new vehicles for the president.

In the new budget, the president will spend N1.6 billion on new vehicles while the vice president will spend N30 million on new vehicles.


President Muhammadu Buhari in his official car
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari and wife in official car (PHOTO CREDIT: Official Instagram page @bayoomoboriowo)

Buhari spending billions on new cars while borrowing to fund big government
Since coming to power six years ago, the president’s office has spent N5 billion on vehicles – enough to build 500 health centres at N10 million each.
ByAyodeji AdegboyegaandRonald Adamolekun November 15, 2021 5 min read
Nigeria’s cash-strapped government will likely do everything to meet its big-on-paper-light-on-impact budgets except one: cut its administrative cost.

As the government deals with budget deficits year after year, it prefers to pile debt rather than cut back on a costly lifestyle that has eaten away at national budgets for decades. A key beneficiary of that extravagant culture is President Muhammadu Buhari. The president preaches prudence in government spending in public, but the budgets he signs off annually tell a different story.

In 2022, the president’s office will spend a whopping N1.6 billion on new vehicles – the fourth largest by any government office. That comes just a year after the office spent nearly half a billion on the same item.

Since coming to power six years ago, the president’s office has spent N5 billion on vehicles – enough to build 500 health centres at N10 million each. It has spent billions more on food, uniforms, travels, a huge presidential air fleet, president’s hospital and more.

The expenditures are an example of how Nigeria’s federal and state governments annually channel scarce public resources into projects that sustain their flashy lifestyles while critical programmes that should benefit citizens are perpetually underfunded.

While the Buhari government has successfully increased Nigeria’s aggregate spending compared to previous administrations, a bulk of that rise still finances non-essential items.

As the budgets and their deficits rise since 2015, so has the cost of governance that covers everything from fuel to printing paper to “welfare packages”.


The N16.4 trillion budget for 2022 has a shortfall of more than N6 trillion and recurrent expenditure of more than N4 trillion, meaning that for every N160 the government spends, N60 will be borrowed and N40 will go to financing government operations, not building badly needed roads and hospitals.

Nigeria’s public debt has risen the most under the Buhari administration when compared to previous governments since 1999, and foreign debt has grown three times more than the combined figure recorded by the past three administrations, a PREMIUM TIMES analysis showed.

“The revenues are simply inadequate to fund fundamental expenditure, therefore, every available fund should be spent with the greatest value for money, tied to a high-level national policy framework and aimed at improving livelihoods, growing the economy, reducing poverty and inequality,” said Eze Onyekpere of the Centre for Social Justice, whose organisation launched an initiative to identify wasteful items in the 2022 budget.

President Muhammadu Buhari's official vehicle
“It is against this background that the pull-out of frivolous, inappropriate, unclear and wasteful expenditure calls the attention of the executive, legislature, private sector, civil society including the media to these frivolities at a time of grave national crisis.”

Mr Onyekpere condemned the culture of assigning billions of naira annually to projects such as “routine maintenance”, “foreign and local travels” and purchase of computers.

“According to the 2022 budget call circular, resources are to be allocated based on actual needs, in line with the immediate needs of the country as well as government’s developmental objectives and priorities. Starting from the presidency’s state house headquarters, the pull-out calls on the leadership to lead by example.

“Spending billions of naira every year on routine maintenance of statehouse facilities is a huge waste. All statutory transfers are stated as lump-sum provisions without details. No person, government agency or organisation has the right in a constitutional democracy to spend public funds in a way and manner that is unknown to the ultimate sovereigns, being the taxpayers and citizens.”

Rising Administrative Cost
The spending on vehicles follows a trend. For 2021, the president requested the National Assembly to approve N18.9 billion for the purchase of new vehicles for government offices. Of that amount, N336 million was proposed to buy new vehicles for the president.

National Assembly Complex
In the new budget, the president will spend N1.6 billion on new vehicles while the vice president will spend N30 million on new vehicles.

In this regard, the president’s office is only surpassed by the Federal Road Safety Commission which intends to spend N1.7 billion on operational vehicles; the Nigerian Correctional Service (N1.1 billion); Ministry of Works and Housing (N720 million) and Ministry of Health – headquarters (414 million) and Ministry of Defence ministry (N835 million).

The presidency is also seeking the allocation of N21 billion for the construction of a new presidential wing for the president and his family as well as vice president and his family. The government plans to spend N19 billion on software, with the presidency amongst the biggest spenders.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/business/business-news/495341-buhari-spending-billions-on-new-cars-while-borrowing-to-fund-big-government.html