HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CUTS N5 BILLION FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL YACHT BUDGET AND RAISES STUDENT LOAN SPENDING

Babatunji Wusu –

According to the House of Representatives, the presidential yacht expense from the 2023 supplemental budget has been moved to the student loan expense.

Hon. Abubakar Bichi, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, revealed this to reporters on Thursday following the passing of the 2023 Appropriations Bill.

He said that the funds for the presidential boat have been transferred to the student loan budget, which has grown from N5 billion to N10 billion. As a result, the budget for the presidential yacht has been eliminated.

“From our end, we no longer possess that presidential yacht,” he declared. We raised the student loan amount.

“As you may remember, we raised the student loan to N10 billion from N5 billion in the budget.”

Recall that following the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval of N2.17 trillion as the 2023 supplemental budget, the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government intended to buy a N5 billion presidential boat.

It was discovered that the proposed amount falls below the Nigerian Navy’s budget for capital expenditures.

The analysis shows that the Navy will need N62.8 billion to run its operations, with capital and recurrent expenses coming in at N42.3 billion and N20.4 billion, respectively.