It was learned that fresh white and green paint was being applied to the concrete perimeter fence surrounding the president’s office, the official residence, the Council Chamber, the press gallery, and other administrative buildings.

The green room adjacent to the Council Chamber reportedly received new furnishings on Thursday, according to The PUNCH.

The State House management, some months earlier, had carried out a routine upgrade of card readers and installed barricades in areas that were once freeways.

A senior State House official said the maintenance was part of the tasks carried out by the Presidential Transition Council chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

The official said, “The changes and upgrades we are doing are part of broader maintenance works. Some are routine, while others, like the painting, are done when the Villa is to host a new occupant.

“These follow the directives of the transition committee, which the SGF is in charge of. The card readers have since been changed. Those are just routine maintenance done when the old ones have passed their active life.

“Repainting is required because, over the years, the State House wildlife accommodates monkeys that roam free and stain these white walls. The bats we have here also deposit their droppings on the walls.”

On the total amount set aside for the renovation, the official said, “We don’t go outside the budget allocated to the State House, but the transition committee is shouldering any special cost.”

Since 2016, N3.05bn has been earmarked for “maintenance services” at the State House. These include maintenance of office furniture, office buildings and residential quarters, among others.

A sum of N148,168,464,339 was allotted for the Presidency in the 2023 Appropriations Act. Out of this, N14,808,479,660 was budgeted for the State House administration, N3,441,177,028 for the President’s State House activities, and N1,555,447,054 for the Vice-President’s State House operations.

A total of N10,108,606,550 was budgeted for projects at the State House headquarters, of which N19,382,375 was set aside for sports equipment for the State House Sports Club and N14,773,412 for the purchase equipment for the renovation of the central gymnasium.

For the renovation works on eight blocks of 16 two-bedroom flats at the State House security quarters, N 132,303,624 was set aside, while N87,255,745 was budgeted for the provision of the Electronic Document Management System.

A sum of N150,000,000 was also set aside for the replacement of telecommunications infrastructure at the villa; N25,023,505 for the upgrade of the State House library, and N7,562,000 for digital medical references for the library.

Rehabilitation of animal enclosure/procurement of vet lab equipment took N35,251,776, while the sum of N130,076,825 was allocated for the conversion/upgrade of the villa ranch and construction of wildlife conservation capture.

A total of N16,077,800 was approved for the purchase of plant nursery equipment for the production of local flowers for routine floral arrangement, irrigation and upgrade of helipad grass field, and N35,725,000 for systemic collection and assessment of data about projects and programmes to aid the management to make decisions. But a sum of N1,904,388,461 was also budgeted for the phased replacement of vehicles and spares during the year.

A total of N7,200,045,297 was budgeted for annual routine maintenance of the villa’s mechanical and electrical installations, and N99,656,180 was allocated for the purchase of various office supplies for the administration, finance and accounting, works, ICT, procurement, PRS, and audit departments.

Additionally, N251,084,550 was budgeted for the purchase of tyres for utility and operational vehicles such as ambulances, plain cars, CCU vehicles, platforms trucks, SUVs, and bulletproof vehicles.