News

Reps Scrap Presidential Yacht Budget, Increase Student Loan To N10bn

Published

2 years ago

November 2, 2023

Following public outcry over the allocation of N5.095 billion for the purchase of a presidential yacht in the 2023 supplementary budget, the House of Representatives, on Thursday, said it had scrapped the budgetary allocation.

Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Abubakar Bichi, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Thursday. He said the budgetary allocation for student loans was also increased from five billion to N10 billion.

He said the committee also increased the budgetary allocation of Ministry of Defence from N 476 billion to N546 billion.

Bichi also disclosed that the minimum wage for workers was considered and approved for onward transmission to the executive. He promised proper legislative oversight to ensure 100 per cent implementation.

In the supplementary budget sent to the National Assembly by the President, the Federal Government had allocated N5 billion to purchase a presidential yacht.

The proposed sum was under the capital expenditure of the Nigerian Navy’s budget.

According to the breakdown, the Navy will require N62.8 billion for its operations, with recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure gulping N20.4 billion and N42.3 billion, respectively

But Bichi said the five billion naira for the presidential yacht has been yanked off from the budget.

He said: “Actually We have submitted our reports to the House and after a careful consideration, the House has approved our submissions and the breakdown is as follows.

“As you know, the budget is about N2.1tn and the ministry of defence has about N456bn but currently ministry of defence has the largest share because we know how important our security is. As you aware, we have interaction with them yesterday. Currently, we have increase their budget from N456bn to N546, 209,099,671 billion.

“For Police formation and command, we gave them N50bn while the FCT has about N100bn. You know FCT is very important to us, so we want to make sure that FCT can compete with any state in the world. That is why we gave them N100bn.

“On the office of national security, their initial budget was N27bn but currently we have increase their budget to N50bn. For the state house, their initial budget was N28bn and we maintained that.

“On ministry of Agriculture and food security, you know how important that ministry is, we maintained their initial figure of N200bn as well. For ministry of housing, you know we have serious housing deficit in the country and Mr. President agenda, he wants to build as much as he can, so we have approve N100bn for housing.

“Service wide votes initially was N615 but currently we reduced to N515bn.

“For INEC, initially their budget was N18bn, and yesterday we had an interaction with the INEC Chairman and he convinced us with his submissions and we maintained their N18bn.

“So far, we have approved N2,176, 791, 286, 33 trillion. We will continue to support the goverment so we can deliver democracy.

On the presidential yacht, Bichi said: “Actually, as far we are concerned, we don’t have that anymore. We have increased the student loan. Initially, student loan was N5bn in the budget but we have increased it to N5bn so that our students can access that facility in order for them to go to school. We don’t have the Yatch anymore in budget.”

He assured that lawmakers would ensure adequate oversight over the way the funds are spent, saying that “our members especially those standing committees oversight those project and ensure the money are used judiciously. From now to three months we are going to call them and ask them what they have done with the money. “

News

Trump’s Airstrikes: Halt Military Cooperation With US Immediately – Sheikh Gumi Tells Tinubu Govt

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Editor

Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has called on the Federal Government to immediately halt all military cooperation with the United States following reported US airstrikes.

Gumi warned that American involvement could worsen Nigeria’s security challenges and undermine national sovereignty.

Gumi made the call in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Friday.

He said while Islam permits the fight against terrorism, such actions should only be carried out by what he described as “clean hands,” arguing that the United States lacks the moral authority to lead such efforts because of its global military record.

According to the cleric, Nigeria made a mistake by allowing foreign powers to play a role in its counterterrorism operations, insisting that “terrorists do not truly fight terrorists” and that such interventions often result in civilian casualties and hidden political motives.

Gumi warned that allowing Nigeria to become a theatre of war would attract anti-US forces into the country, further destabilising it.

He also cautioned that US involvement, particularly under claims of protecting Christians, could polarise the country along religious lines.

The cleric further argued that airstrikes alone cannot defeat terrorism, stressing that effective counterterrorism requires strong ground operations, which he said Nigeria has enough personnel to carry out if properly organised.

“This is the mistake Nigeria has made. Terrorists don’t fight terrorists in truth; they may only kill innocent people and have ulterior motives behind the drama of fighting ‘terror’.

“As a principle, no nation should allow its land to be a theater of war. And no nation should allow its neighbors to be their enemies.

“If Nigeria wants military assistance, China, Turkey, and Pakistan can do the job effectively,” part of his statement reads.

News

Shehu Sani Reacts To Trump’s Military Strikes In Nigeria

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Editor

Former lawmaker, senator Shehu Sani, has reacted to reports of United States military strikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria’s North-West, saying foreign powers cannot permanently handle the country’s security challenges.

Sani made the remarks on Friday via his X handle while responding to a post by the United States Africa Command, AFRICOM, which indicated that the strikes were carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

According to him, if the reported strikes were indeed a joint operation with Nigerian security agencies, then such action was justifiable, given the threat posed by terrorist groups in the region.

He described terrorists operating in parts of northern Nigeria as “cancerous cells,” stressing that they survive through violence and should be confronted decisively.

Sani also dismissed narratives suggesting that terrorist attacks target only one religious group, describing such claims as false and misleading.

He said: “If actually, the military strikes against the terrorists targets in the North Western part of Nigeria were a joint operation with the ‘Nigerian Authorities’ as posted by the US AFRICOM on their verified X handle, then it’s a conscionable action.

“Terrorists have become cancerous cells in our part of the country.They live by the sword.The narrative that the evil terrorists only targets one faith, remains absolutely false and misleading.

“Again, the ultimate security and peace in our country lies with ourselves and not with the US or any foreign power. They can complimentarily or unilaterally strike, but they can’t eternally fight our battles.”