Navy Clears Air On Purported Yacht Request In Supplementary Budget For Tinubu

The Nigerian Navy came out to clear the air about a purported request for a yacht for President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, saying the story was a misrepresentation.

The leak of the news that about N5billion was being set aside in the Supplementary Budget for a luxury boat for the president had sparked widespread criticisms in many quarters recently, with Nigerians insisting it was insensitive of government to  be considering such an expenditure in the light of current harsh economic realities.

But the Nigerian Navy clarified that the marine vessel was not meant for Tinubu, adding that it was a request by the service.

The Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan told The PUNCH on Thursday that the service made a “long overdue request” for the replacement of the defunct presidential yacht under the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“Under the immediate past administration, a long overdue request was made for a Presidential yacht to replace MV AMARIA, the defunct Presidential yacht. It was also to be used for the Presidential Fleet Review 2023 that was held in May this year,’’ he explained.

Also clearing the air over the controversial yacht in a statement titled, ‘The facts on the naval boat in 2023 supplementary budget,’ the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained it was not for Tinubu’s personal use.

He stated the naval boat was described in the budget as a ‘Presidential yacht’ “because of its high-level security features.”

Onanuga said, “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.