Era Of Waste: Jonathan's Inauguration to Gulp N5 billion, Church Service N63 Million
Posted: May 22, 2011 - 14:44
By SaharaReporters, New York

A scandalous squandering of scarce public funds for next Sunday’s inauguration of Goodluck Jonathan's presidency is in effect.  SaharaReporters investigations have revealed that the inauguration ceremonies will last one week at a budget of about N5 billion ($32 million).

In a memo obtained by SaharReporters, the church service alone, which will take place next Saturday, will swallow over N62 million( $403,000)

The memo is signed by the Minister of Aviation, Fidelia Njeze, in her role as the chairman of the Church Service sub-committee of the 2011 Presidential Inauguration Committee. 

Wearing that cap, Mrs. Njeze will oversee the church service on Saturday May 28, at the Christian center in Abuja for a couple of hours.

The Presidential Inauguration Committee is listed under the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF).
 


Presidency sources told SaharaReporters that apart from the series of committees set up by the Office of the SGF, the president's office and that of the First Lady also have their different budgetary expenses for the event.

In the church committee activity, Mrs. Njeze proposes to provide a public address system for N35 million.  She will also refurbish the Christian Center's 24 air-conditioning system for N8 million; provide multimedia projectors and screens for another N8 million, and pay as well as pay officiating ministers N2.5 million.

wonders shall neva end.

era of wastage don begin o.

gej inaugration to gulp 5bn naira!

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/era-waste-jonathans-inauguration-gulp-n5-billion-church-service-n63-million

nigerians have made the biggest mistake this year by votng gej, una never see anything una go hear am, useless nation

When I saw the article on the politics page, I told myself to take a wild guess: It is from Saharareporters!! As I opened, i rushed to the end of the article to check the source and lo and behold: Saharareporters!!

Every wise person has long stopped taking Saharareporters seriously. Sincerely speaking, as soon as I saw Saharareporters, I didn't bother to read the article.

here we go again. this na real fresh air

PapaBrowne:

When I saw the article on the politics page, I told myself to take a wild guess: It is from Saharareporters!! As I opened, i rushed to the end of the article to check the source and lo and behold: Saharareporters!!

Every wise person has long stopped taking Saharareporters seriously. Sincerely speaking, as soon as I saw Saharareporters, I didn't bother to read the article.

its the same sahara reports that reported that yar adua was dead - 2 solid months b4 the fg acknowledged it.
sahara reports also reported that gej was stoned in abuja - n gej assistandt on media rushed to deny the event and labeled sahara reports as liars, but the ugandan prez was at the same time apologising to nigeria 4 the incident!!,
now u and i know that gej was stoned in uganda, n that his advisers in nigeria lied that he wasnt stoned.
!!!, no newspaper/media service is 100% right all the time. sahara reports make their mistakes once in a while, but this time they r correct, look at the scanned copy of the 63m to be spent on church service, its 100% original, [am not against the 63m church service tab]

^
Lol dude! You do have a unique user name!

@topic
As always, here's my sahara reporters antidote:

Sahara Reporters is best known for fake news these days.

[size=14pt]The fake pic below too is courtesy Sahara Reporters[/size]. Shame.
http://saharareporters.com/photo/photonews-jonathans-declaration-when-jonathan-women-met-goodluck-men

www.nairaland.com/attachments/324341_SaharaReportersFakePicture_jpg69a0b6e4ad1c8831fa731bd73bb022d2

fresh air 2011

is prosterity judging already? nigerians deserves the the leader they get the story been true or not.

@Beef and Papabrowne:

I understand if you have reservations regarding Sahara-Reporters, but this time, are you saying it can't be true that GEJ's inauguration is set to gulp close to the stated amount?

I really doubt this news, sahara reporters should never be trusted with the junks they churn out

It's a lot of money, but still less than the royal wedding,

The only way to teach these people a lesson is to have an assassin take them out.They are heartless

N8million for[b] REFURBISHING[/b] the air cons

SR Speaks: We Challenge The Jonathan Government To Tell Us: "What Is The Full Cost Of Jonathan’s Presidential Inauguration?"
On May 22, we published a report that the federal government was set to squander an incredible N5 billion (about $32 million) on next Sunday’s inauguration of Mr. Goodluck Jonathan as president.

Our story was penned in the best interests of Nigeria. As evidence of this commitment, we are taking issue with yesterday’s announcement, by Mr. Yayale Ahmed, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) who also chairs the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC), that the event will consume N1 billion.

Now, N1billion is no small change. N1 billion, properly and responsibly deployed, can change the fortunes of several communities and institutions in Nigeria. There is tremendous constructive power, therefore, in N1 billion.

If that were all that the government budgeted for the inauguration, it should raise concerns. An inauguration, in the end, is neither the government nor governance: it is an oath-taking ceremony in which photos are taken and speeches may be made. It is a dignified ceremony, but does not have to be an obscenely expensive one.

But information available to SaharaReporters reveals that the federal government will spend about N5 billion on what is essentially a few minutes of formality.

The SGF told the press: "N830 million is the cost of the 2011 presidential inauguration ceremonies. The initial budget was N1.3 billion and was later reduced to N830 million. However, it may reach N1 billion at the end of the day and I will want you, as journalists, to follow it up for proper auditing and accountability."

SaharaReporters, which was not invited to yesterday’s event, is not that presumptuous to believe that yesterday’s press briefing was in response to its original story. But we do know that the federal government is not in the habit of briefing the press about events of this nature especially when it had previously used the Nigerian Tribune to reveal that it had planned to spend N500 million on the event a week before.

Perhaps, then, a new day of accountability has dawned. If that is the case, we suggest that in order to demonstrate its commitment to full disclosure, the government publish the full budget for the inauguration.

In our original story, we wrote as follows: “Presidency sources told SaharaReporters that apart from the series of committees set up by the Office of the SGF, the president's office and that of the First Lady also have their different budgetary expenses for the event.”

The SGF did not contradict this. In the interest of Nigeria, we urge him to disclose the budgets for those “offices,” along with that of the PIC.

In our view, Nigerians deserve to know what is being spent on security, such as the brand new bullet proof vehicles being bought for heads of state and governments and other dignitaries who are invited to the event. The SGF said about 40 heads of state were invited, and it is correct to assume that preparations have been made for all of them even though they may not all attend. We believe that Nigerians deserve to know the cost of new bomb-detection equipment, as well as the expenditure on the Israeli and American security experts and their crew that are being flown in.

Mr. Yayale told the press yesterday that the ministerial sub-committees set up for the inauguration include venues; utilities and souvenirs; football match; musical/cultural festival and fireworks; security; publicity; presidential speeches; swearing-in; accommodation; protocol and airport reception; and finance.

Still left out are the exorbitant expenditures for a flower-filled church service whose bill to the taxpayer will approach a hefty N63 million. How much more will go for the Islamic prayer service planned for Friday? The SGF must disclose that amount as well.

The SGF also confirmed, as we indicated in our original story, that the inauguration will last one week, and include a presidential special session with the youth in Lagos; dinner for Corporate Nigeria, also in Lagos; an exhibition and unveiling of the President's portrait at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre; and the First Lady's banquet for women.

With due respect, we object strongly to this approach. An inauguration is simply an induction into office, the formal transfer of power to an individual; it need not be a costly long-running festival nor a series of open-ended events organized into convoluted books and chapters. This is particularly important in an administration which ought to be conscious of the need to demonstrate credibility, accountability and THRIFT from the first moment. We do not see a portrait, for instance - more appropriate to royalty - has become a critical inauguration item. In fact the First Lady’s planned lavish banquet sets a worrying tone. The President, once empowered, ought to be stepping into the challenge of his job, not stepping out for photo ops in his party attire.

Finally, we wish to remind the Jonathan administration that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not recognize an office of the First Lady. A “First Lady” is not elected because her husband has been elected. The “First Lady” is simply a social and unofficial title which needs no budget, no structures, no duties, and no pay.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/sr-speaks-we-challenge-jonathan-government-tell-us-what-full-cost-jonathan%E2%80%99s-presidential-