A senior legislator has reported that Nigeria’s lower house of parliament has declined the government’s proposal to purchase a presidential yacht for $6 million (£5 million).
Nigerians had condemned the proposal as extravagant spending amid an economic crisis.
In a different decision, legislators reallocated the $6 million to the student loan budget, effectively doubling its funding, as stated by Abubakar Bichi.
President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May with a commitment to reduce unnecessary expenditure and alleviate the financial burdens of the people.
However, he sparked public outrage when he presented a supplementary budget in the National Assembly for approval, which included the proposed yacht purchase as part of the Nigerian Navy’s capital expenditure, totaling $53 million.
Human rights advocate and former legislator Shehu Sani responded by remarking, “the poor can’t be struggling for survival in a canoe while their leader is yachting”.
President Tinubu’s spokesperson, Temitope Ajayi, clarified that the president had no association with the yacht purchase plans.
“From what I know, the request for a yacht, however it is named or couched in the budget is from the navy and they must have operational reasons for why it is required,” he said.
The budget was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
However, Mr. Bichi, who serves as the chairman of the influential House Committee on Appropriation and is a member of Mr. Tinubu’s ruling party, informed local journalists that legislators had rejected the allocation for a presidential yacht.
The budget allocates $36 million for State House spending, covering the acquisition of luxury vehicles and the development of a presidential office complex.
The government is additionally preparing to allocate $15 million (£13 million) for the presidential air fleet.
The dispute arises at a moment when Mr. Tinubu is facing significant scrutiny amid the cost-of-living crisis and a substantial depreciation of Nigeria’s currency, the naira, against the dollar.
Official statistics indicate that Nigeria’s annual inflation climbed to 26.7% in September.
A prominent advocacy organization in Nigeria, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), argued that the acquisition of a yacht couldn’t be rationalized when “137 million Nigerians are living in extreme poverty.”
The organization also pointed out that the situation deteriorated further after President Tinubu eliminated a fuel subsidy in his inaugural address, leading to an increase in fuel and essential commodity prices.
Activist Omoyele Sowore alleged that the government was allocating funds for extravagances while “maintains the miseries of the Nigerian populace”.
Mr. Ajayi stated that the president and vice-president had no intention of introducing new vehicles to their fleet and were utilizing “inherited vehicles” from the prior administration.
He explained that the budget allocated for vehicles was intended to cover the needs of hundreds of civil servants and political aides employed at State House.
