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Nigeria’s budget minister defends controversial ‘Presidential Yacht’

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Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu has defended the inclusion of a controversial “Presidential Yacht” in the 2023 supplementary budget which had set lawmakers on a war path.

The issue of the yacht has also provoked debates among Nigerians who believe that at a time the ordinary masses are going through severe hardship due to the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, it is insensitive of the President to aqcuire such unnecessary luxury.

But while reacting to the raging controversy, Bagudu said the inclusion of the yacht in the budget was not intended for President Tinubu’s personal use and comfort.

Bagudu, while speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja on Friday, said it was “ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the yacht was smuggled into the supplementary budget for Tinubu’s personal use.”

President Tinubu has always told us, his team, that he is happy with all he has achieved in life, personal comfort does not matter to him. So to suggest that something was put in the budget for his comfort is ridiculous,” the minister said.

“Before he was elected President, he stayed in a three bedroom apartment in Abuja. He lives a modest, humble life.

“Therefore, the mischaracterisation or controversy that followed from the way the Nigerian Navy described the ship has unfortunately generated controversy.

“In my comment during a panel discussion, I said three things; first President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the campaigns, repeatedly emphasised the urgency to tackle security. And it is not surprising that 30% of the supplementary budget is for the defense sector.

“If you have a budget of N2.2 trillion and 95 percent of it is okay, I think President Tinubu should be given credit for it.

“Equally, he has spoken about the need to support vulnerable populace and equally 30 percent of the supplementary budget is also on the palliatives. N400 billion cash transfers and N200 billion cash awards.

“Equally infrastructure, about 25% of the supplementary budget is for infrastructure. So there you have it, about 85% is in these three areas,” the minister added.

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65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

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A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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