Presidential spokesman, Tope Ajayi said President Bola Tinubu did not ask for a yacht.
This comes amid outrage after details of the N2.1 trillion supplementary budget Tinubu submitted to the National Assembly were published.
According to the budget, N5.09 billion was allocated for the yacht, N2.9 billion for sport utility vehicles for the Presidential Villa, and another N2.9 billion for the replacement of operational vehicles for the presidency.
The yacht was listed under the Nigerian Navy’s proposed capital expenditure of N42.3 billion.
Speaking on the development, Ajayi said he doubted if his principal needed one to perform the functions of his office.
“The trending issues on social media since Wednesday 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 for the State House.”
“It is important to state clearly that President Bola Tinubu didn’t ask for a presidential yatch, 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, is 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 expenditures should be accommodated now, considering the economic situation of the country. I must readily admit that the one reason our budgeting system has been the subject of public attack is the very simplistic way some of the line items are described by civil servants who prepare the budget.
