Reps re-allocate N5b earmarked for presidential yacht to student loan

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The House of Representatives on Thursday re-allocated the N5 billion that had previously been designated for the presidential yacht to the student loan in the 2023 supplementary budget.

The chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Bichi (APC, Kano) made this announcement during plenary where he said the House of Reps has dropped the proposed N5b presidential yacht.

Bichi said this following the passage of the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget by the House and also told newsmen that the committee reached an agreement to move the money to the student loan section to make it a total of N10 billion.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has earlier on Thursday debunked a report which said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration proposed an allocation of funds in the 2023 supplementary budget for the purchase of a N5.095 billion presidential yacht.

The request was made public through the detailed supplementary appropriation documents of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) obtained by Nairametrics.

A Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, on Thursday, however, issued a statement to debunk the report.

Ajayi said that it has become a pattern for some individuals, CSOs and a section of the media to pick one or two line items every budget cycle for sensational headlines, deliberately ignoring context in their reporting.

According to Ajayi, the public that should benefit from good journalism, which should primarily educate and adequately inform, is left confused and miseducated due to mischaracterisation of issues and misrepresentation of facts.