The State House Management has begun repainting and renovating sections of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, less than three months before the January 16, 2027 presidential election.
Saturday PUNCH observed this week that maintenance staff were painting the façade of the long covered corridor leading to the President’s office, bordered on one side by the forecourt.
The arches at the entrance to the administrative wing were also being peeled, re-plastered and recoated with white oil paint, while other maintenance staff handled various parts of the work as offices were cleaned and fumigated.
On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu was not seen in his office as workers on scaffolds scaled the upper arches of the corridors leading to the Presidential Banquet Hall near his office.
Two officials, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter, described the works as routine maintenance.
One of them said, “This is routine maintenance. It is being carried out by the State House Management under the Permanent Secretary, Mr Temitope Fashedemi.”
The second official said the Department of Maintenance was handling the job.
“The Maintenance Department and its director are in charge of these works. The painting, the cleaning and the fumigation are all part of the routine maintenance of the Villa,” the official said.
The State House website lists Akeem Agunrege as head of the State House Directorate of Maintenance, an office previously held by Mr Joshua Apagu, now retired.
A review by Saturday PUNCH of the State House Headquarters’ allocations in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budgets showed that N53.58bn had been allocated for maintenance works over the past three years.
In the 2026 Appropriation Act, N4,229,108,872 was allocated for “Annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installation, building/civil and environmental services within and around Villa facilities (President/VP offices/residences, old and new admin complexes, Villa power house, Conference Centre Banquet Hall, auditorium, presidential/ministerial lounges and chalets at the Presidential Wing-Airport etc.).”
Another N3,844,644,429 went to “Provision for the annual maintenance of the Presidential Villa, Abuja for works as directed”.
A further N8,347,076,214 was set aside for “Julius Berger liabilities and other maintenance liabilities owed as from 2022 till date”, which also covers FCT water charges, AEDC bills and waste disposal charges.
The 2026 Act also provides N102,447,964 for “Maintenance of office building/residential qtrs” and N8,478,832,626 for “Rehabilitation/repairs of office buildings.”
It sets aside N84,198,642 for “Renovation work on 8 No. blocks of 16 No. 2 B/R flats at State House security quarters” and N1,281,548,143 for the “Acquisition, renovation and rehabilitation of EFCC forfeited properties to be used as State House quarters in Abuja.”
In the 2025 Appropriation Act, N6,041,584,103 was allocated for annual routine maintenance, N5,492,349,184 for annual maintenance of the Villa and N11,924,394,592 for the Julius Berger and other liabilities, totaling N23.46bn.
The State House Headquarters’ total allocation that year was N57.11bn, of which N35,362,462,362 was for “Rehabilitation/repairs of office buildings.”
The 2024 budget proposal earmarked N9,200,045,297 for annual routine maintenance of the Villa’s mechanical and electrical installations.
It also provided N4.5bn for Julius Berger’s liabilities on routine maintenance in 2022 and 2023, and N153,445,827 for “maintenance of office building/residential quarters.”
The budget also included N3.5bn for the “acquisition, renovation, rehabilitation and furnishing of the State House annexe.”
The approved budget retained the N9.20bn maintenance line and the N40.62bn total for the State House.
The annual routine maintenance vote fell by 54 per cent since 2024, from N9.2bn to N4.23bn. In the 2023 budget, it was N7,200,045,297.
In May 2023, ahead of Tinubu’s inauguration, our correspondent had reported that the State House Management repainted the President’s office, residence, Council Chamber and perimeter fence.
A senior official said then that the repainting was partly required because monkeys and bats in the Villa stained the white walls.
Days later, then President Muhammadu Buhari moved out of the official residence into the Glass House to allow maintenance work as the 35-year-old building was painted, cleaned and fumigated for its next occupant.
On July 30, 2023, Tinubu moved into the Glass House, as the main residence was still being renovated. He had operated from his private residence in Asokoro for more than two months after his inauguration.
The 2024 and 2025 Appropriation Acts were repealed and re-enacted in December 2025, and the capital component of the 2025 budget was extended to June 30, 2026. President Tinubu signed the N68.32tn 2026 budget in April.