…Lawmakers remove item
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that he did not request for the N5 billion presidential yacht proposed by the Nigerian Navy.
Tinubu stated this while speaking through his spokesperson, Tope Ajayi, yesterday.
Recall that there has been outrage since details of the N2.1 trillion supplementary budget Tinubu submitted to the National Assembly were published.
According to a report, Ajayi said he doubted if his principal needed one to perform the functions of his office. “It is important to state clearly that President Bola Tinubu didn’t ask for a presidential yacht; and I doubt he needs one to perform the functions of his office. 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 stated.
The N5.09 billion presidential yacht was listed under the Nigerian Navy’s proposed capital expenditure of N42.3 billion.
However, the House has now removed the controversial item from the budget, which was passed on Tuesday by the lower chamber after adopting the report submitted by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Abubakar Bichi, from Kano State.
Bichi, after the passage of the budget, spoke with newsmen and announced that the controversial presidential yacht was removed by the committee. He stated that the N5 billion was moved to Student Loans.
