Senator Ben Murray-Bruce Reacts As House of Reps Scraps Presidential Yacht Budget

FORMER Bayelsa East Senator, Ben Murray-Bruce, has hailed the transfer of the N5 billion budget for the presidential yacht in the 2023 supplementary budget to Student Loan expenditure.

Recall that the Green Chamber has announced that the expenditure for the presidential yacht has been scrapped and transferred to the student loan programme.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Abubakar Bichi, made this known on Thursday while briefing journalists after the passage of the 2023 Appropriation Bill.

He said there is no budget for the presidential yacht anymore because the money has been added to the budget of the student loan, which has increased from N5 billion to N10 billion.

Reacting to the development in a post on X, Murray-Bruce said he is pleased that the National Assembly acted prudently in deleting the controversial yacht from the budget.

The former lawmaker stated that the House of Representatives had played its role as a check on the other arms of government very well, and hopes that all Nigerians can celebrate the transfer as a victory for democracy.

He wrote: “As a former Legislator, I am pleased that the Legislative branch of government has acted prudently in deleting the controversial yacht from the budget and transferring the sum of five billion that was earmarked for the project to the student loan program.

“The House of Representatives played their role as a check on the other arms of government very well. And I hope all Nigerians can celebrate this as a victory for democracy.”