In a recent development, the House of Representatives has removed the previously allocated N5 billion budget for the purchase of a Presidential yacht.
Following the approval of the Supplementary budget on November 2, Abubakar Bichi, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, spoke to the press.
He stressed the legislators’ consideration of public interest, resulting in the removal of the Yacht budget and the reallocation of the funds to the Student loan initiative, which now receives N10 billion.
Bichi affirmed, “We no longer have the presidential yacht in our budget. We have increased the student loan. Initially, the student loan was budgeted at N5 billion, but we have augmented it to N10 billion.”
Moreover, the Committee heightened the budget allocation for the Ministry of Defence from 476 billion to 546 billion, addressing pressing security concerns.
In another noteworthy decision, Bichi revealed that the minimum wage for workers was approved for onward transmission to the executive, with a commitment to ensuring its complete implementation through diligent legislative oversight.
Furthermore, the sum of 100 billion was retained for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the request of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
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