Data obtained from GovSpend.ng, an analytics platform run by BudgIT Foundation to give Nigerians access to information on daily spending at all levels of government in the country, revealed that the Nigerian government paid the money to Trucrete Solutions Limited and Green Belt Ltd respectively.
The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government in one day paid a total sum of N5,377,305,494.92 to two contractors for renovation of the President's residential quarters and construction of an office complex within the State House in Abuja.
Data obtained from GovSpend.ng, an analytics platform run by BudgIT Foundation to give Nigerians access to information on daily spending at all levels of government in the country, revealed that the Nigerian government paid the money to Trucrete Solutions Limited and Green Belt Ltd respectively.
The payment details showed that on May 31, 2024, the State House Headquarters paid the sum of N1,877,305,494.92 to Trucrete Solutions Limited for renovation of the President's residential quarters.
Also on May 31, 2024, a payment of N3,500,000,000 was made to Green Belt Ltd for the construction of an office complex within the State House in Abuja.
However, whereas a search for the contractors on Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website showed the status of Trucrete Solutions Limited as active, an indication that the company has filed its annual returns up to date, according to the Commission, Green Belt Ltd could not be found on the CAC website.
But 12 different Green Belt related companies with different registration details were found on the Commission’s website, out of which, status of 10 of the companies showed inactive, indicating that though the companies are registered entities, they have not filed their annual returns up to date, according to the CAC.
The Green Belt related companies include Green Belt Farms Ltd with an inactive status and a registration detail as “under registration, RC - not yet assigned.”
Others are Green Belt Farms & Agro-Allied Products Ltd, registered on March 20, 2024 with active status and registration No. RC - 7407108; Green Belt Agro Services Ltd, registered on September 6, 2022 with active status and registration No. RC - 1972164; Green Belt Multidimensional Services Ltd, registered on December 2, 2021 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 1868686; Green Belt Multi-Links Ltd, registered on October 22, 2020 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 1725750.
Also found were Green Belt Networks Comm. Ltd, registered on October 25, 2017 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 1448015; Green Belt Homes & Properties Ltd, registered on June 29, 2010 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 895817 and Green Belt Surveys Ltd, registered on March 17, 2009 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 807565.
Others are Green Belt Shelter Ltd, registered on January 25, 2008 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 727422; Green Belt Resources Ltd, registered on August 12, 1997 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 318505; Green Belt Nig Ltd, registered on November 5, 1991 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 177970 and Green Belt Refineries Ltd, registered on November 5, 1990 with inactive status and registration No. RC - 157822.
The Nigerian government made the payments of over N5 billion for the President’s residential quarters renovation and construction of office complex in the state house amid struggle with the organised labour on the new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) rejected the new recommendation and insisted on N250,000, an amount the Nigerian government has said is not realistic.
The 36 state governors of the federation had also earlier said that putting the minimum wage at N60,000 or above was too high and could not be sustainable, noting that many state governments would be thrown into borrowing to meet up with the new minimum wage implementation.