In a significant move, the House of Representatives has removed the budget allocation of N5.09 billion meant for the purchase of a presidential yacht from the N2.176 trillion supplementary budget presented to the lawmakers.
Instead, the House reallocated this sum to student loans, doubling the allocation for students’ loans to N10 billion, up from the initial N5.5 billion provided in the supplementary budget.
This decision by the lawmakers comes in response to public outcry over the provision for a presidential yacht, especially amidst the economic challenges facing Nigerians following the removal of fuel subsidies and other government policies.
Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi Abubakar (APC, Kano), announced this decision while addressing the press after the passage of the supplementary budget.
The rationale behind this reallocation was the need to address the low budgetary allocation for students. Additionally, the committee increased the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Defence from N476 billion to N546 billion due to heightened security concerns.
Bichi also revealed that the minimum wage for workers had been considered and approved for onward transmission to the executive, with an assurance of proper legislative oversight to ensure its 100 percent implementation.
The supplementary budget originally included a N5.09 billion allocation for the purchase of a presidential yacht under the capital expenditure of the Nigerian Navy’s budget. This decision reflects the House’s commitment to prioritizing student access to educational resources over a luxury acquisition.
Regarding the presidential yacht, Bichi emphasized, “Actually, as far as we are concerned, we don’t have that anymore. We have increased the student loan.
Initially, the student loan was N5 billion in the budget, but we have increased it to N10 billion so that our students can access that facility for their education. We don’t have the yacht anymore in the budget.”
