Presidential Yacht Delivered, Deal Signed, No Payment Yet, Says Ndume

 The presidential yacht that caused outcry across the nation has been delivered after the signing of the deal but no payment has been made.

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, stated this on Arise TV’s Morning Show yesterday, saying, “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 N435, and now it is over N800.

“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.”

However, on Thursday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained that item named ‘Presidential Yacht’ as found in the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill is not for President Bola Tinubu’s personal use, saying the naval boat bears such classification “because of the high-level security features.”

“What was named as a 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.”

Ndume also discussed the N160 million slated for the purchase of a Land Cruiser SUV for each lawmaker in the National Assembly, stating that it was not a new thing for government workers to buy official vehicles.

He said they did not buy cars made in Nigeria because they are not manufactured but assembled, adding that the price of the imported vehicles was affected by increase in Naira to dollar rate.

According to him, “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 said they preferred the SUVs because they could move easily on Nigerian roads, most of which are not motorable.