The State House Management has started remodeling and repairing the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in advance of Bola Tinubu’s inauguration as president on May 29.
GISTNGR saw on Friday that fresh white and green paints were being applied to the concrete perimeter fence surrounding the president’s office, the official home, the Council Chamber, the press gallery, as well as other administrative offices.
On Thursday, one of our reporters saw the delivery of fresh furniture to the green room next to the Council Chamber.
The management had put barricades where there had once been freeways and performed a normal upgrade of the card readers months before.
The upkeep was one of the duties performed by the Presidential Transition Council, which was led by Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha, and spoke to GISTNGR on the condition of anonymity.
Before the transfer of power to the next administration, on February 14, 2023, the Federal Government formally established the 22-member Presidential Transition Council.
The committee is made up of the permanent secretaries for Cabinet Affairs, General Service Affairs, Economic and Political Affairs, Office of the SGF, State House, and National Security Advisor, among others.
The President-elect nominated 14 additional people in April to serve on the transition council.
The official declared, “The adjustments and improvements we’re making are part of larger maintenance projects. Others, like painting, are done when the Villa is about to welcome a new inhabitant. Some are routine.
“These adhere to the rules established by the transition committee, over which the SGF has control. Since then, new card readers have been installed. When the older ones have finished their useful lives, those are simply ordinary maintenance procedures.
“Repainting is necessary because, over time, monkeys that roam freely and stain these white walls have become a part of the State House wildlife. Additionally, the bats in this area leave droppings on the walls.
When asked how much money was allotted overall for the project, the representative responded, “We don’t go outside the budget allocated to the State House, but the transition committee is shouldering any special cost.”
The State House has received N3.05 billion in funding for “maintenance services” since 2016. These include, among other things, the upkeep of office equipment, buildings, and housing.
Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, uploaded a picture of a guy painting the exterior wall of the Villa with white and green paint on his Twitter page on Friday.
He mentioned that the new President’s welcome was being signaled by the picture.
Under the image, Shehu wrote, “Painter at work. Villa is sporting a fresh appearance in preparation for the new president.
Almost three weeks after his inauguration, in June 2015, Buhari eventually moved into the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.
After his inauguration, he was unable to move into his official residence because the Villa was still undergoing renovations.
Buhari had alternated between his apartment in the Asokoro neighborhood and the Defence House in Maitama before settling in Aso Rock.
After returning to work in August 2017 from a 103-day medical vacation abroad, Buhari conducted business out of his official residence while his office was being renovated.
Shehu claimed that the President’s office required renovations as a result of mice’s extensive damage to the furnishings and air conditioning devices during Buhari’s protracted absence.
To allow for renovations before Buhari’s inauguration, his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, moved to the Glass House in the expansive Aso Presidential Villa in May 2015.
Jonathan and his wife Patience transferred their possessions out of the official residence and into their home in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, not long after the announcement of the results of the presidential election that year.
Similar to his forerunners, Tinubu is anticipated to have input into the furnishings that will be placed in his official residence and office as well as the paint colors, which will be done to his taste. However, minor repairs will be made on some parts of the house, while cleaning and repainting the entire residence with white paint will be done.
A sum of N148,168,464,339 was allotted for the Presidency in the 2023 Appropriations Act. Out of this, N14,808,479,660 was budgeted for the State House administration, N3,441,177,028 for the President’s State House activities, and N1,555,447,054 for the Vice-President’s State House operations.
A total of N10,108,606,550 was budgeted for projects at the State House headquarters, of which N19,382,375 was set aside for sporting goods for the State House Sports Club and N14,773,412 for the purchase of goods for the renovation of the central gymnasium.
N 132,303,624 was budgeted for the refurbishment of eight blocks of 16 two-bedroom apartments at the State House security quarters, and N 87,255,745 was allocated for the Electronic Document Management System.
A total of N150,000,000 was also allocated for the renovation of the villa’s telecommunications system, N25,023,505 for the State House library’s renovation, and N7,562,000 for the library’s purchase of digital medical references.
N35,251,776 was spent on the renovation of the animal enclosure and the purchase of veterinary lab equipment, while N130,076,825 was allotted for the conversion/upgrading of the villa ranch and the construction of a wildlife conservation capture.
A total of N16,077,800 was approved for the purchase of plant nursery equipment for the production of local flowers for standard floral arrangements, irrigation, and upgrading of the helipad grass field, and N35,725,000 was approved for the systematic collection and assessment of data about projects and programs to help the management make decisions. However, N1,904,388,461 was also allocated in the budget for the year’s planned gradual replacement of vehicles and spare parts.
A total of N7,200,045,297 was planned for yearly routine maintenance of the villa’s mechanical and electrical installations, and N99,656,180 was allocated for the purchase of various office supplies for the administration, finance and accounting, works, ICT, procurement, PRS, and audit departments.
Additionally, N251,084,550 was budgeted for the acquisition of tires for utility and operational vehicles such as ambulances, plain cars, CCU vehicles, platforms trucks, SUVs, and bulletproof automobiles.
In the 2022 Appropriations Bill, the Presidency sought N5.23 billion for the general renovation and repair of fixed assets in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
For the renovation/repair of office buildings, a total of N5,176,045,297 was allocated, while N55,056,446 was set aside for residential structures.
N4,854,381,299 was allocated in the 2021 budget for the yearly standard upkeep of the Villa’s mechanical and electrical facilities.
The State House Medical Center’s presidential wing was supposed to cost N21,974,763,310 to build.
The Akinola Aguda House (officially named on October 1, 1983) was initially planned as a presidential lodge and guesthouse complex following the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory in 1976, according to information on the State House website. It included a temporary official residence for the President as well as guesthouses for visiting Heads of State. Only a few days after Abuja hosted Nigeria’s first-ever Independence Day celebration, in October 1982, the Aguda House played host to the first-ever formal cabinet meeting conducted outside of Lagos.
The building of a new presidential home began in 1985. In 1991, the Aso Rock Presidential Villa was finished, and former military dictator General Ibrahim Babangida moved there on December 12 to become the first Head of State to do so.
Aguda House was converted into the Vice-Presidential Complex after the Aso Rock Presidential Villa was finished, and it has remained that way ever since. The only exception was the time between 1999 and 2007 when the Vice-President lived in a house that was later given to the judiciary as the Chief Justice of Nigeria’s official residence.
A new vice presidential residence’s construction started in 2010. Vice President Osinbajo will continue to dwell in Aguda House while the mansion is still under construction, according to the Buhari government, which has stated that it is not a priority.
The Presidential Complex today consists of the main presidential villa (the President’s office and residence, as well as the Vice President’s and the President’s wife’s offices), the State House Conference Centre, the State House annex, and the Akinola Aguda House. It is situated in the Three Arms Zone of the Federal Capital Territory.Tinubu’s team responds
One of our correspondents was informed by a source in the president-elect’s camp that Tinubu has the right to choose the direction of the makeover.
He was unable to clarify, however, whether Tinubu was already contributing to the renovation.
The insider said, “That should be the permanent secretary of the State Department’s responsibility.
