Former Nigerian leaders including ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and their Chiefs of Staff are to receive N2.3bn as benefits in 2019.
The sum of N4.5bn was also proposed in the 2019 budget as severance benefits for retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries while former heads of government agencies and parastatals would receive N1bn as severance benefits.
This is contained in the budget document recently submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Justice has proposed to spend the sum of N1bn on election logistics support in 2019.
The N1bn planned expense jerked the proposed budget up by about 13.9 per cent over the ministry’s 2018 budget.
According to the budget estimate, the sum of N1bn proposed by the Ministry of Justice to be spent on what is described as “Election – Logistics Support” represents about 13.5 per cent of the ministry’s budget size of N7,431,288,232.
Since the budget proposal is for an election year, it is believed that the item has to do with the forthcoming general elections.
Further strengthening this belief is that the item which surfaced under the miscellaneous expenses of the ministry for the 2019 financial year, was absent in the ministry’s budget for 2018.
A total sum of N1,140,273,822 is proposed for miscellaneous expenses of the ministry for 2019.