The House of Representatives has excluded the controversial N5 billion allocation for a presidential yacht from the 2023 supplementary budget.

The budget was approved on Tuesday by the House following the endorsement of the report submitted by Abubakar Bichi, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, representing Kano State.

The Committee of Supply thoroughly reviewed the recommendations put forth by the Appropriations Committee and subsequently passed the budget.

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After the budget’s passage, Chairman Bichi addressed the press and revealed the removal of the contentious presidential yacht allocation.

He explained that the N5 billion originally designated for the yacht was reallocated to student loans, increasing the student loan allocation from N5.5 billion to N10 billion.

The committee also revised the budget allocation for the Ministry of Defence, increasing it from N476 billion to N546 billion due to heightened security concerns.

Bichi further disclosed that the minimum wage for workers was considered and approved for onward transmission to the executive, with a commitment to ensuring its 100 percent implementation through vigilant legislative oversight.

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Additionally, the sum of N100 billion was retained for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in line with the request made by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. Consequently, the House passed a supplementary budget of N2.177 trillion.

It’s worth noting that President Bola Tinubu’s initial proposal had included significant allocations, such as N1.5 billion for vehicles for the First Lady’s office, N5 billion for a presidential yacht, and another N12.5 billion for the presidential air fleet.

Speaking about the presidential yacht, Bichi clarified, “As far as we are concerned, we don’t have that anymore. We have increased the student loan allocation.

The student loan was budgeted at N5 billion, but we have raised it to N10 billion to provide better access to educational opportunities for our students.

The presidential yacht allocation has been removed from the budget.”

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Bichi assured that lawmakers would exercise thorough oversight to ensure prudent and responsible use of the allocated funds, stating, “Our members, especially those in standing committees, will oversee these projects and ensure that the funds are utilized judiciously.

Within the next three months, we will call for an account of how the money has been utilized.”