President Jonathan Reduces Aso Rock Feeding Allowance By N494 Million.

                                    
With the economy in a bind and a growing public anger over his administration’s management of the economy, President Goodluck Jonathan has taken a rare decision to spend less on food and consumables at the presidential villa in 2014. As the budget comes under an increasingly  intense media scrutiny, President Jonathan has given up nearly half of the presidency’s giant feeding bill of N1 billion, a proposal, two years ago, that shocked Nigerians and stirred public anger.
The feeding cost has been lowered by N494 million or 45.5 percent in the 2014 budget proposal sent to the National Assembly by the president. The 2014 request, if approved by lawmakers, will be the lowest amount of naira spent by the State House on feeding and allied costs in two years. The funds allocated to feed Aso Rock in 2012 were sufficient to pay about 1,200 of the nation’s growing unemployed graduates a monthly salary of N70, 000 for a year. That revelation at the time, published by PREMIUM TIMES, aggravated public anger and revved up resistance to government’s plan, within the same period, to remove petrol subsidy, and jack up the pump price of petrol. In 2013, the presidency’s feeding was put at N717.3 million. For 2014, the figure has been scaled downward to N542.8 million, the new budget shows. The figures are subject to the National Assembly's Approval.
PT.