The Labour Party and the African Action Congress have slammed the decision of the Federal Government to spend N3bn on renovating two luxury properties in Abuja that were seized from corrupt individuals.

They say the money could be better spent on addressing more pressing issues, such as hunger, insecurity, and the high cost of living.

The government has defended the decision, saying that the renovated properties will be used as State House complexes, according to The PUNCH.

This is part of the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation details for the State House sent to the National Assembly for approval.

President Tinubu had on Tuesday asked the National Assembly to approve the N2.17tn supplementary budget.

However, critics say that this is a wasteful use of taxpayer money.

The EFCC, the agency that forfeited the properties, has said that it is the government’s prerogative to decide how to use them.

A source from the EFCC said that the agency’s duty is to investigate and prosecute corrupt individuals and that it does not have a role in deciding how forfeited assets are used.

“It is true that the EFCC helped in securing the forfeiture of the properties amongst many others. But only the Presidency can determine how the properties would be handled since it was forfeited to the Federal Government,” the source said.

Reacting to this development, spokespersons for the LP Presidential Campaign Council, and the National Publicity Secretary for the AAC, Yunusa Tanko, and Olorunfemi Adeyeye, respectively, the Tinubu administration does not care about the suffering of the Nigerian masses, “most of whom have been subjected to multi-dimensional poverty.”

“The Nigerian masses must vehemently resist this ridiculous move by the Tinubu-led government to expend N3bn in renovating two properties seized from political thieves. Of course, the forfeited properties in question would have most likely been recovered from members of the same bourgeois class as the President whether in the All Progressives Congress or in the Peoples Democratic Party or any of their appendages.

“However, as we have always said, now is another good time for Nigerians to troop out and occupy the streets in protest against all anti-people’s policies by the Tinubu-led government ranging from fuel subsidy removal to increment in tuition fees across public tertiary institutions, amongst others,” Olorunfemi said.

According to Tanko, “Nigerians must resist this in its totality; not in the midst of hunger, poverty, and insecurity should anyone earmark such huge amount of money for the jamboree. However, we have earlier foreseen this; we’ve seen this before, and it has been interplayed.”