You know the feeling you get when it’s almost that time of the year and oga landlord is ready to collect the rent you owe. Imagine having to plan yourself for the year and there is that inevitability of rent. Now think about the Federal Republic of Nigeria being in this exact situation. Ridiculous right? Apparently, Nigeria pays an annual rent of N66.6m (sixty-six million six hundred thousand).
Look at these figures, the rent payment for the state house was scheduled at N22.4 million in 2015, but by 2016, it had risen to N27.73 million. Despite the public outrage and economic uncertainties that followed 2016, provision for house rent in 2017 increased by almost 123% to N77.54 million. The 2018 budgets, as well as the 2019 and 2020 budgets, included 66.6 million in rent payments.
The question on everyone’s mind now is who is Nigeria’s Landlord? It has to be a person or cooperation right? Ibrahim Babangida, a former Head of State and the first occupant of Aso Rock, has joined the chorus of critics of the residential rent provision, requesting the Nigerian government to clarify who the landlords are.
He said this; “I built Aso Rock and I wonder who the current Landlord is. I read a certain N22M for the payment of Aso Rock rent. Rent to who, me or GEJ?” Babangida asked in 2016.
Regarding a 1976 proclamation by the Military Government of Murtala Mohammed for a more centralised nation’s capital, Ibrahim Babaginda built Aso Rock Presidential Villa on October 13, 1989.
The Aso Rock Presidential Villa was finished on November 1, 1991, and President Babangida became the first Head of State to occupy it on December 12, 1991.
So kindly ask this question to as many people that care to answer, maybe, just maybe we will get an answer on this subject soon.
The only certainty right now is that somewhere, there is a landlord collecting money from the Federal Republic of Nigeria annually and we just want to know who.
