The House of Representatives has excluded the contentious N5 billion allocation for a presidential yacht from the 2023 supplementary budget. This budget was ratified by the House on Tuesday, following the acceptance of the report presented by Abubakar Bichi, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee hailing from Kano State.
The Committee of Supply reviewed the recommendations provided by the Appropriations Committee and endorsed the bill. Bichi, after the budget’s approval, spoke to journalists and confirmed that the controversial presidential yacht allocation was removed. Instead, the N5 billion was reallocated to Student Loans, increasing the student loans allocation from 5.5 billion to 10 billion.
Furthermore, the Committee raised the budget allocation for the Ministry of Defence from 476 billion to 546 billion, addressing security concerns. Bichi also revealed that the minimum wage for workers was considered and approved for onward submission to the executive, with a commitment to ensure 100 percent implementation through proper legislative oversight.
Additionally, the House retained the requested 100 billion for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as advocated by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. Consequently, the House approved a supplementary budget of N2.177 trillion.
It’s worth noting that President Bola Tinubu’s original proposal included expenditures such as 1.5 billion for First Lady’s office vehicles, 5 billion for a presidential yacht, and 12.5 billion for the presidential air fleet. Despite ongoing social media campaigns to halt the National Assembly’s approval of the supplementary budget, the bill received swift endorsement.
Following the bill’s passage, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas announced that the President would sign the bill on Friday.