The Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume says the deal for the presidential yacht has been already agreed, signed, and delivered before the public outcry against it.
Ndume said this while clarifying the issues surrounding the controversial yacht on Arise TV on Thursday, November 3, 2023.
The yacht, which is said to be worth about ₦5 billion recently sparked a public outcry after the details of the ₦2.1 trillion supplementary budget submitted to the national assembly were published.
Ndume said, “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 ₦435, and now it is over ₦800.
“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.”
Ndume also justified the purchase of ₦160m for Land Cruiser SUV for each lawmaker in the National Assembly, saying it’s normal for government officials to buy vehicles to carry out their oversight functions.
Explaining why the lawmakers did not go for Nigerian-made vehicles, the senator representing Borno South Nigerian vehicle companies only assemble vehicle parts.
“The reason why we did not choose Nigerian-made cars is because they don’t manufacture their vehicles, but they assemble them.
“I prefer Nigerian-made products, but the Nigerian car companies are only buying the vehicle parts and assembling them here,” Ndume said.
He further explained that the lawmakers chose SUVs because most Nigerian roads were not motorable.
