Nigeria, April 25 -- As widely reported, the State House has increased the budgetary allocation to the State House Headquarters from N47.11bn in the proposed 2025 budget to N57.11bn in the approved version. This is not budget padding that we are used to. It is budget puffing. The State House budget was puffed-inflated-by a staggering 10 billion naira which was allocated for the installation of a solar mini-grid at the Presidential Villa.

As usual, the news was coldly received by Nigerians. "How selfish could our leaders be?" This is one of the reactions. It comes in form of a question. I wanted to answer the question, then I realized the question is rhetorical. Those who asked the question know the answer better than he who overheard the...