Presidency officials dismiss action of critics who oppose the purchase of presidential yacht

PRESIDENCY officials have dismissed recent criticism of the supplementary budget by President Bola Tinubu listing a yacht as an item of expenditure saying that it was procured for the Nigerian Navy.

Over the last week, the presidency has come under fierce criticism after it emerged that a request was made to purchase a yacht. However, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga has dismissed such criticism of the N5bn ($6.35m) yacht, saying it is a military vessel and not one bought for private use.

He said: “What was named as presidential yacht in the budget is an operational naval boat with specialised security gadgets suitable for high profile operational inspection and not for the use of the president.”

On Tuesday, President Tinubu's supplementary was passed by the House of Representatives after adopting the report submitted by the chairman of the appropriations committee, Hon Abubakar Bichi. Senator Ali Ndume, the chief whip of the senate, backed the claim by the presidency, saying that the National Assembly passed the budget because the country needed it.

Senator Ndume said: “We queried the amount budgeted for the yacht but it was signed for a dollar rate and the new rate isn’t favourable. The budget was predicated for about N435trn and now it is over N800trn.

“The navy also clarified that it is not a new budget and even the House of Representatives moved the budget to the student loan. The deal for the yacht has been agreed, signed and delivered but not paid for.”

Speaking on the N160m ($203,200) for Land Cruiser sports utility vehicles for each lawmaker in the National Assembly, Senator Ndume stressed that it is not a new thing for government workers to be buying vehicles for official duties. He maintained that the price of the vehicles was also affected by the volatility of the naira to dollar rate, adding that they are needed.

Senator Ndume added: “The reason why we did not choose Nigerian-made cars is because they don’t manufacture their vehicles but they assemble them. I prefer Nigerian-made products but the Nigerian car companies are only buying the vehicle parts and assembling them here."

He maintained that the reason for the SUVs is because most Nigerian roads are not motorable, adding that these vehicles are the only ones that could help them carry out their oversight functions. Lawmakers buying themselves SUVs gas attracted fierce criticism from the Nigerian public, given that about 80m people live below the United Nations poverty level of $2 a day and the national minimum wage stands at a meagre N30,000 ($38) per month.