News Investigators/ The senator representing Borno south and chief whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume has revealed that the N5 billion presidential yacht deal was already aigned, sealed and delivered.
Recall that both chambers of the National Assembly on Thursday refused to approve the said provision in the 2023 supplementary appropriation bill submitted to it by President Bola Tinubu.
The presidency had equally denied making such request, saying it neither needed a yacht to perform its duty.
But while answering question on the matter Friday, Mr. Ndume sisclosed that the presidential yacht had been signed and delivered but not paid for before the public outcry.
The Borno senator said the senate has since added the amount initially earmarked for the purchase of the yacht to the budget for student loan.
“We queried the amount budgeted for the yacht, but it was signed for in dollar rate, and the new rate isn’t favourable. The budget was predicated on 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,” he added.
Speaking on the N160 million for Land Cruiser SUV for each lawmaker in the National Assembly, the Chief Whip stressed that it is not a new thing for government workers to be buying vehicles for official duties.
He maintained that the price of the vehicles was also affected by the volatility of the Naira to Dollar rate, adding that the vehicles are needed 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.
“I prefer Nigerian-made products, but the Nigerian car companies are only buying the vehicle parts and assembling them here.”
