The House of representative has yesterday after the public outcry on the N5billion proposal for the presidential Yacht, has reallocated the money to students loan scheme in the supplementary budget. The lower house lawmakers made the consideration after carefully listening to Nigerian populace outcry that greeted the frivolous allocation of such sum when the country is battling with budget deficit.
Chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Bichi (APC, Kano), made the announcement yesterday after the passage of the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget by the House.
Mr Bichi, while speaking to journalists, said the committee removed the item and moved the money to the student loan section to make it N10 billion.
The lawmaker explained, “As far as we are concerned we don’t have that presidential yacht anymore. We have increased the student loan.
“If you recall, the student loan was N5 billion in the budget but we have increased it to N10 billion,” he said.
The N5 billion for the presidential yacht was listed under the budget of the Nigerian Navy, claiming it was for the operation of the security, however, after careful consideration it was moved to the student loan section by the House apparently after the public outrage that trailed the allocation.
The Higher Education Act signed into law by President Tinubu in June was supposed to take off in September but the president announced recently that the implementation had now been scheduled for January 2024.
The Education Loan Fund for the Nigerian students was created by an Act and is to be domiciled and managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
However, despite the criticism that followed the allocation for the procurement of luxury cars for president and his wife, the state house gave the president a nod.
The president has come under serious criticism for budgeting N28 billion for the purchase of luxury cars for himself, and his wife, first lady, as well as the renovation of the president’s residence among other spending for the State House.
The government also plans to spend another N2.9 billion on Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) for the Presidential Villa, and another N2.9 billion to replace operational vehicles for the presidency.