Ace broadcaster Eugenia Abu on Friday barred journalists from touring Vice President Kashim Shettima’s N21 billion residence built with taxpayers’ money amid economic hardship, saying it is a “private space.”

“These are the persons that are going to be accompanying Mr President into this residence,” Mrs Abu, moderator at the commissioning of the multimillion naira edifice, said. “There will be no press; there will be no coverage. This is the official residence of His Excellency, the vice-president; it is a private space.”

Mrs Abu went on to list political office holders allowed to tour the luxurious residence, naming the Senate president, his deputy, lawmakers and members of the Federal Executive Council.

“The people that will be following the president into the residence for a guided tour. We are going to have all serving National Assembly members, all members of the Federal Executive Council, and, of course, from the top-ranking position of the Senate president and the deputy Senate president, the deputy chief of staff will also be in attendance and also the Julius Berger team,” Mrs Abu said.

Representing Mr Tinubu at the commissioning of the edifice, Mr Shettima admitted that the project was executed with taxpayers’ money. 

“I, therefore, once again, want to express my gratitude to the FCT Administration for taking up the responsibility and feel duty-bound to complete this project to avoid wastage of taxpayers’ money,” Mr Tinubu said.