Amid dire hunger necessitated by food price inflation in Nigeria, the President Muhammadu Buhari regime has proposed to spend an alarming N508 million on food and catering supplies for the State House in 2022.

A copy of the 2023 Appropriation Bill seen by Peoples Gazette, shows that N301,138,860 has been proposed for “food stuff/catering supplies”.

Another N30,652,500 will go for “refreshment and meals”. These figures are supposed to take care of feeding at Mr Buhari’s wing of the State House.

For Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, N156,662,400 is proposed for “food stuff/catering supplies”, and another N20,264,397 for “meals and refreshments.”

This comes amid a hike in food prices across the country and plans by Mr Buhari’s regime to borrow to finance the N6.258 trillion deficit in the proposed 2022 budget.

In his Independence Day celebration speech, Mr Buhari admitted that there is food price hike under his watch, blaming it on middlemen’s drive for excess profit.

The Gazette in a market survey had reported a bag of beans that formerly sold for N30,000 now selling for N100,000, while cooking gas that was N3,500 now sells for N8,000. 

According to the Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt Report published this year by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country’s total public debt under Mr Buhari’s watch as of September 2020 stood at N32.2 trillion ($84.57 billion).

In July, the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) warned of a looming food crisis in Nigeria, estimating about 13 million Nigerians to face food insecurity.