FG to Decide What to Do with New Official Residence for Vice President

• Osinbajo says Aguda House good enough for him

By Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

The Office of the Vice President yesterday said the federal government would decide what to do with the new Vice President House built by the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

A statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, said the incumbent Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, was satisfied with living in Aguda House.

He said the new house for the vice president which already has 14 buildings almost completed was not the idea of the present administration.

He also said since the present regime came on board in 2015, it had not committed a dime to the project.

He said: “For the umpteenth time, we like to clarify that the proposed plan of the immediate past administration to build a new official residence for the occupant of the Office of the Vice President, including the controversial gatehouse preceded this administration.

“The project which started in 2010, was initiated and funded by the immediate past administration, but had never featured in the two budget proposals of the Buhari administration: neither in the 2016 nor the 2017 spending plans.

“Any suggestion therefore that this project benefits our administration or that it reflects our spending style or preferences is not only misleading but blatantly false.

“Besides, the incumbent Vice President, Osinbajo, has said publicly that he considers Aguda House, which he currently occupies, a befitting official residence for the Vice President and sufficient for his needs.

“While the project is now about 85 per cent complete, the federal government, in the circumstances, will decide at the appropriate time what is the best use for the 14 buildings already on the project site.”