President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, Wednesday, debunked reports making rounds in the media space that the 2024 budget made provisions of ₦10 billion naira proposal for the renovation of his residence.
The former House of Representatives speaker, in a tweet, clarified that there was no such provisions in the 2024 appropriation Bill for the renovation of any residence.
He said he still lives in his private residence.
Lamenting the rate at which bloggers and other fake news merchants disseminate information online without proper checks, Gbajabiamila said, the sum quoted online are for renovating Presidential quarters in Dodan barracks, VP’s lodge in Lagos and others.
According to him, the sums proposed for renovating these projects are clearly stated in the 2024 budget and bear no resemblance to the deceptive online commentary.
His tweet read: “I have seen social media commentary regarding the 2024 Appropriation Bill, particularly the provisions under the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
“Owing to the erroneous nature of these reports, it has become necessary to clarify that there is no provision in the 2024 Appropriation Bill for the renovation of any residence for the Chief of Staff to the President. I live in my private residence.
“The sums mischievously quoted by online bloggers and fake news merchants are for renovating the Presidential Quarters in Dodan Barracks and the Vice President’s Lodge in Lagos, to overhaul the information management and communications facilities in the Presidency to meet modern standards and to provide vehicles for the staff of the Presidency.
“The sums proposed for these projects are clearly stated in the budget proposal and bear no resemblance to the deceptive online commentary.
“This administration welcomes and encourages scrutiny of government expenditure; this is why the Budget proposal is publicly available. However, healthy public debate about government actions requires us to be responsible with our utterances and engage based on facts rather than insinuations and falsehoods”
