Under fire, the presidency and the Nigerian Navy has moved in defense of the executive in respect of the provision for a “presidential yacht” in the 2023 supplementary appropriation bill, dispelling misconceptions regarding the budgetary item.
Following the public outrage that trailed the development, the House of Representatives expunged the controversial N5 billion presidential yacht from the 2023 supplementary budget.
Also making clarifications on the issue yesterday, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said contrary to its nomenclature, the presidential yacht was not intended for the personal use of the President.
He explained that the designation of “presidential yacht” is due to the boat’s high-level security capabilities.
He further explained that the procurement of the naval boat was initiated by the Nigerian Navy during the preceding administration.
In a statement he issued in Abuja, Onanuga said, “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 specialized security gadgets suitable for high profile operational inspection and not for the use of the President. It is called 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”.
The presidential aide further said President Tinubu was focused on securing Nigeria and its territorial waters, as the federal government under his leadership is investing more resources in enhancing greater economic output from oil and gas, marine and blue economy.
“In President Tinubu, we have a leader who understands the economic challenges being faced by the masses.
“His 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,” he added.
On his part, senior special assistant to the president on Media, Tope Ajayi, denied that the president requested a presidential yacht in the 2023 supplementary budget.
The budget also included N2.9 billion for sport utility vehicles for the presidential villa and an additional N2.9 billion for the replacement of operational vehicles for the presidency.
Addressing the criticisms trailing the said allocations, Ajayi in a piece expressed skepticism about whether President Tinubu required a presidential yacht to fulfill the functions of his office.
He clarified that the request for a yacht came from the Navy, which likely had operational reasons justifying its inclusion in the budget.
Ajayi urged the budget office to provide a transparent explanation to the public regarding the necessity of such expenditures, particularly in light of the country’s economic situation.
He noted that one of the challenges with the budgeting system is the simplistic manner in which some line items are described by civil servants preparing the budget, which can lead to misunderstanding
Ajayi emphasised the importance of responsible journalism, stating that reporting should enrich public understanding rather than creating a sense of siege.
He criticised the tendency to attribute State House budgetary provisions solely to the president and vice president
He said, “It has become a pattern for some individuals, CSOs, and a section of the media to pick one or two-line items every budget cycle for sensational headlines, deliberately ignoring context in their reporting.
“The public that should benefit from good journalism, which should primarily educate and adequately inform, is left confused and miseducated due to mischaracterisation of issues and misrepresentation of facts.
“The trending issues on social media since yesterday are two items in the 2023 supplementary budget. One is the provision for a presidential yacht in the supplementary budget by the Navy, and the other is over N6 billion for vehicles to the State House.
“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 from the Navy, and they must have operational reasons for why it is required.
“The budget office should be in a position to also explain to the public why such expenditure should be accommodated now, considering the economic situation of the country,” he said.
It’s Part Of Our Fleet, Replacement For Defunct One – Navy
For its part, the Nigerian Navy explained that the presidential yacht had always been an integral part of its fleet, saying the most talked about budgeted Yacht was conceived under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
It noted that the request was approved but there was no cash backing it, hence the current administration only ratified what was already done and nothing new.
The director of Information at Naval Headquarters, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, said the budgeted presidential yacht was meant to replace the defunct presidential Yacht ‘MV Amaria’
He said, “It was under the immediate past administration a long overdue request was made for a Presidential yacht to replace MV AMARIA, the defunct Presidential yacht. Also to be used for the Presidential Fleet Review 2023 that held in May this year, it was approved but no cash backing
“The new administration of President BAT only ratified what was already done. The Presidential yacht is in fact an integral part of the Navy fleet and recall the Federal Government of Nigeria had approved, supported, funded and driven the Navy’s fleet recapitalisation and renewal effort for well over eight years. The yacht has always been there. That’s what the public needs to know.”
Move Insensitive, PDP Declares
But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insisted yesterday that the proposal for a presidential yacht smacks of insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians and the economic realities of the country.
National publicity secretary of the party, Hon Debo Ologunagba, stated at a press conference in Abuja that President Bola Tinubu was ill-advised on such a proposal.
He said, “If the president can talk about a yacht at this time, it shows the irresponsibility in the government and the insensitivity of our leaders.”
Lamenting what he alleged to be the quest for personal aggrandisement by those in government, he recounted how the president’s son, Seyi, allegedly traveled on a presidential jet to watch a polo game in Kano State.
He said with the state of Nigeria’s economy, it was irresponsible for the government to propose spending the way it has shown.
Asking the National Assembly to reject the proposal, he said, “I believe that the President is ill-advised on it.”
“I believe he shouldn’t be asking for a yacht he doesn’t need. They should lead by example,” he added.
Lawmakers Move Yacht Allocation To Student Loan
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday gave its nod to the N2.18 trillion supplementary budget for the 2023 financial year requested by the President Bola Tinubu- led federal government.
This followed the consideration and approval of the report of the committee on Appropriations by the committee of Supply chaired by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen at plenary.
Tinubu had in a letter read on the floor of the House by Speaker Tajudeen on Tuesday requested for the speedy passage of the N2.18 trillion supplementary appropriation bill (budget) to enable the federal government finance additional palliative measures and other projects.
Consequently, the executive bill (budget) was slated for second reading and it was passed and referred to the committee on Appropriations which held defence with the key ministries on Wednesday.
The committee submitted the report titled, “A Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N2,176,791,286,033 for the year ending 31 December 2023 (HB. 765)”, which has been approved.
Of the total of N2.18 trillion, N18 billion is for statutory transfers, N992.802 billion is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the sum of N1.165 trillion, one hundred and sixty-five billion is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure.
Giving a brief breakdown of the budget, the House’s Appropriation Committee Chairman, Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi said, the allocation for Presidential Yatch has been removed.
LEADERSHIP reports that the federal government proposed allocation of N5.095 billion for the acquisition of a presidential yacht in the proposed supplementary budget.
Bichi also said the budgetary allocation for student loans was also increased from N5 billion proposed by the executive to N10 billion.
Responding to a question on the presidential yacht, he said, “Actually, as far as we are concerned, we don’t have that anymore. We have increased the student loan. Initially, the student loan was N5 billion in the budget but we have increased it to N10 billion so that our students can access that facility in order for them to go to school. We don’t have the Yacht anymore in the budget.”
The appropriation chairman also disclosed that the budgetary allocation for the ministry of Defence has been increased from N456 billion to N546 billion while that of Office of National Security Adviser is raised to N50 billion from the initial N29 billion.
The Kano lawmaker disclosed that the Service Wide Vote which was initially allocated N615 billion is now reduced to N515 billion.
He said, “As you know, the budget is about N2.1trillion and the Ministry of Defence has about N456 billion but currently the Ministry has the largest share because we know how important our security is. As you are aware, we had an interaction with them yesterday. Currently, we have increased their budget from N456 billion to N546, 209,099,671 billion.
“On the office of National Security, their initial budget was N29 billion but currently we have increased their budget to N50 billion. For the State House, their initial budget was N28billion and we maintained that. Service wide votes initially was N615 billion but currently we reduced it to N515 billion. So far, we have approved N2,176, 791, 286, 33 trillion. We will continue to support the government so we can deliver democracy dividends.”
