The passing of former president Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday was met with mixed reactions across Nigeria. The 82-year-old left office on May 29, 2023, and lived a low-profile life until his demise.
Before his death, the federal government, through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)’s office, spent varying sums on his welfare and image.
FIJ visited the Govspend portal on Monday and found that on July 25, 2023, two months after President Bola Tinubu assumed office, the SGF’s office paid N10,544,115 to Buhari’s account as a severance package.
This payment, the office described as ‘Being payment of severance allowance to the former president, Muhammadu Buhari’.
His exit from office also came with a November 13 payment to his account from the SGF’s office in 2024. This time, the sum was N80 million, and the description read: ‘Being payment of [sic] vehicle to the former president’.
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Ahead of the 2023 governorship election, Ikechi Emenike, founder of D.E.R. Limited media company, and Uzoma Emenike, his wife, visited Buhari in the State House on January 12, 2023, for his blessings.
Ikechi wanted to be the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer in Abia State. He wanted to replace Okezie Ikpeazu. At the time, Uzoma was Nigeria’s ambassador to the USA.
Two months after this meeting, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation made an N8,748,837.21 to the account of D.E.R. Limited for a contract to publish three pages in the ‘Africa Economy Magazine on taking the President Buhari’s legacy to the world’.
The company bagged another N79,285,915 payment from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on October 13, 2023. This time, it was ‘For the publication of Buhari’s administration’s achievements in an international magazine’.
In March, the EFCC evicted Ikechi from his Abuja residence after a court ruled that it was obtained with proceeds of fraud linked to former petroleum minister Diezani Allison-Madueke.
An Aisha Laila Buhari also earned a salary from her role in the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority. FIJ found that on March 28, 2023, her monthly salary was N5,572,428.89, and one year later, her salary was N5,594,514.38.
FIJ did not find any other payments to the former President’s account since his tenure ended.
