A 2023 State House expenditure record has surfaced showing that ten million naira was paid to a company called Riteddy Resources Limited for the supply of two industrial pressing irons assigned to the office of Vice President Kashim Shettima. The payment, made through a transit account, values each iron at five million naira. Sahara Reporters published the details after the data was flagged by GovSpend, a civic technology platform that tracks Nigerian government spending using publicly available records.
No detailed specifications or justification accompanied the entry. There is no description of what makes these pressing irons worth five million naira each, no procurement process visible in the public record, and no explanation of why two irons for a single office required a ten million naira outlay. The line item simply exists, listed alongside other State House expenditures on everyday items including tea and food supplies, all carrying price tags that bear no resemblance to what those items cost in any Nigerian market.
The contrast is what makes the record sting. Five million naira is more than most Nigerian workers will earn in a year. The current national minimum wage leaves millions of households struggling to cover rent, food, and transportation on salaries that would not cover a fraction of what the State House reportedly paid for a single iron. The idea that an appliance available in electronics shops across Lagos or Abuja for a few tens of thousands of naira could appear on a government payment schedule at five million naira per unit is the kind of detail that turns frustration into outrage.
Reactions online were immediate and scathing. Nigerians flooded comment sections with disbelief, sarcasm, and anger. Many users calculated what ten million naira could fund in their communities, listing school fees, clinic supplies, borehole projects, and small business grants that would transform lives in ways a pressing iron never could. Others questioned the existence and legitimacy of Riteddy Resources Limited, asking who owns the company and what other government contracts it may have received.
The broader pattern is what gives the story its weight. This is not an isolated entry. GovSpend has consistently highlighted government expenditure records where commonplace items are procured at prices wildly disconnected from market value. The platform has previously flagged inflated costs for office supplies, food items, and equipment across multiple government agencies. Each new revelation reinforces a public perception that government procurement is not a system designed to serve the state efficiently but a pipeline through which public funds are redirected to private pockets.
The absence of accountability around these transactions is itself part of the problem. No one has been asked to explain the ten million naira payment. No procurement officer has been summoned. No audit outcome has been made public. The record exists openly on a government platform, visible to anyone who looks, and yet visibility alone has never been enough to trigger consequence in Nigeria’s spending ecosystem…..See More
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