BREAKING: Reps throw out Tinubu's N5 billion presidential yacht from supplementary budget
- The House of Representatives has said that the controversial N5 billion presidential yacht in the supplementary budget has been thrown out
- Abubakar Bichi, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, who spoke to journalists after the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget was passed, said the money was transferred to the student loan section
- But the presidency, in its explanation, said the presidential yacht was an operational naval boat with specialised gadgets suitable for high-profile operational inspection
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FCT, Abuja - President Bola Tinubu's N5 billion presidential yacht included in the supplementary budget has been transferred to a student loan by the House of Representatives.
Abubakar Bichi, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, made the disclosure on Thursday, November 2, after the House passed the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget, Premium Times reported.
Source: Twitter
Speaking to journalists after the plenary, Bichi said the item was removed by the committee and transferred to the money budgeted for the student loan section making it N10 billion.
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Presidency clarifies N5bn presidential yacht budget
But the presidency said the acclaimed presidential yacht was an operational naval boat with specialised gadgets suitable for high-profile operational inspection and not for the use of the President.
In his statement on Thursday, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification.
He said:
“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 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 a presidential yacht by way of nomenclature because of its 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 of 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. 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.”
"Tinubu is not Buhari": Shittu gives verdict on APC government
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, have been compared by the former minister of communication, Adebayo Shittu.
Shittu, while reacting to the recent ministerial retreat of President Tinubu's administration, said Buhari was a very reserved person.
The former minister added that Buhari never ask ministers how they run their ministries, adding that Tinubu should avoid such mistake of lack of accountability.
Source: Legit.ng
