The House of Representatives has announced that the allocation for the presidential yacht in the 2023 supplementary budget has been redirected towards student loan funding. Hon. Abubakar Bichi, the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, disclosed this information during a press briefing following the passage of the 2023 Appropriation Bill.
Bichi explained that there is no longer a budget provision for the presidential yacht, as the funds have been reallocated to increase the budget for student loans. The student loan budget has been raised from N5 billion to N10 billion.
It’s worth noting that the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government had initially planned to purchase a presidential yacht worth N5 billion after receiving approval for a N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget from the Federal Executive Council. This allocation was originally part of the capital expenditure in the Nigerian Navy’s budget, which included N62.8 billion for its operations, with N20.4 billion for recurrent expenses and N42.3 billion for capital expenses.