Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on information and strategy, said this in a press statement on Thursday, while explaining that the procurement of the Yacht was included in the budget as part of the committed obligation submitted by the office of the Chief of Naval Staff to the Ministry of Defence.
The Nigerian government has claimed that the Presidential Yacht included in the 2023 supplementary budget is not meant for the usage of President Bola Tinubu but for the operations of the Nigerian Navy.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on information and strategy, said this in a press statement on Thursday, while explaining that the procurement of the Yacht was included in the budget as part of the committed obligation submitted by the office of the Chief of Naval Staff to the Ministry of Defence.
He said the item was tagged “Presidential Yacht” due to its security features.
The sum of N5.09 billion was initially allocated for a presidential yacht in the Federal Government’s N2.1 trillion supplementary budget which sparked controversy.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria House of Representatives claimed it has scrapped the controversial budgetary allocation of the yacht following the public outcry against the item in the supplementary budget.
The House of Reps also moved the proposed sum for students’ loans to N10bn as against the documented N5.5 billion.
Speaking on this, the presidential aide's statement reads: “Following public reactions over the provision for what is termed presidential yacht and other line items in the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation presented to the National Assembly, it is important to provide some clarifications.
“First, we need to make clear that President Bola Tinubu's administration respects the views of Nigerians on all matters of public concern. We thus consider it very imperative to clear any misconception and misunderstanding of the issues.
“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. It is called a presidential yacht by way of nomenclature because of the high-level security features
“The Naval boat was ordered by the navy under the previous administration President Tinubu has consistently said that government is a continuum as he inherited both assets and liabilities of past administrations.
“The payment request for the boat was part of the committed obligation submitted by the office of the Chief of Naval Staff to the Ministry of Defence. The total of the submitted requests was in excess of N200 billion out which N62 billion was approved by the President
“President Tinubu is focused on securing our country and territorial waters. The Federal Government under his leadership is investing more resources to enhance greater economic output from our oil and gas, marine and blue economy.
“In President Tinubu, we have a leader who understands the economic challenges being faced by the masses administration is working very hard to confront and surmount those challenges. Nigerians will soon get the benefits of the ongoing reforms that will certainly lead to a buoyant and improved quality of life for all citizens.”