Tinubu never asked for yacht–Presidency

The presidency has said the yacht listed in the supplementary budget was a naval vessel and not for President Bola Tinubu.

According to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, “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.

“It is called a presidential yacht by way of nomenclature because of the high-level security features.”

Onanuga said the naval boat was ordered by the navy under the previous administration.

“President Tinubu has consistently said the 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.”