Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume, has said the agreement, signature, and delivery of the N5 billion presidential yacht provided in the supplementary budget were perfected before the outrage from Nigerians.
Ndume, the Senator representing Borno South, made this disclosure while speaking on the issues bordering on the contentious presidential yacht while appearing as a guest on Arise Television’s Morning show on Friday.
He said the upper legislative arm raised questions on the amount earmarked for the sailboat, but added that it had been signed and delivered but not paid for before the public outcry.
The All Progressives Congress federal lawmaker added that the Senate has since added the required payment fee to the student loan budget.
“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,” Ndume said.
“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.”
In his submission on the N160 million for Land Cruiser SUV for each lawmaker in the National Assembly, the Chief Whip stressed that it is not out of place for government workers to acquire vehicles for official duties.
The Chief Whip noted that the price of the vehicles was also affected by the unsteadiness of the naira to dollar rate, adding that the vehicles are essential needs for the lawmakers.
“The reason why we did not choose Nigerian-made cars is because they don’t manufacture their vehicles, but they assemble them,” he said.
“I prefer Nigerian-made products, but the Nigerian car companies are only buying the vehicle parts and assembling them here.
He maintained that the reason for the SUVs is that most Nigerian roads are not motorable, adding that these vehicles are the only ones that could help them overcome the terrible roads.
Nigerians have kicked against some items in the 2023 supplementary budget including the N5.095 billion on a presidential yacht for President Bola Tinubu, which his aides have come out to say he did not request for.
