The controversial N5 billion presidential boat was seized in the 2023 supplemental budget, and the House of Representatives has accused the Nigerian Navy of purchasing it without the National Assembly’s consent.
According to an earlier story, the Navy had verified the presidential yacht’s delivery and stated that it had been in the nation since June 2023.
Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, the Nigerian Navy’s spokesman, insisted in an interview with The Punch on Friday that the purchase was made for training purposes and was made during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to replace the defunct presidential yacht.
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However, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, the chairman of the House Committee on Navy, has denied knowing of any funding set aside for the purchase of the presidential yacht.
The Plateau senator said in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune on Saturday that the Committee will look into the Navy’s violation.
He said: “Yes, I’m not aware of it.”
Concerned about the development, Gagdi claimed that the Nigerian Navy had not received any funding in the authorised budget for the previous four years.
The congressman emphasised that the sailing boat should have been purchased for the 2023 budget, saying that it is inappropriate to do it now.
He said: “It is, it must be provided for unless if it is a special intervention which we can oversight, even if it is a special intervention, we can oversight.”
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In response to a query about any additional subheads in the N62 billion proposed supplemental budget for the Nigerian Navy that he thought were superfluous, Gagdi stated that the Navy was being treated unjustly.
He said: “Navy has been treated unjustly. If the Army has over N200 billion, the Air Force will have N112 billion, and the Navy will have only N62 billion. It means they didn’t consider the Navy as one of the Armed Forces agencies that protects the national assets.
“You want revenue, you don’t want crude oil theft, you don’t want piracy, you don’t want oil bunkering, instead of strengthening the Agency that is vested with the responsibility of defending the country by sea, in terms of our natural resources, you’re giving money to other sister Agencies beyond the Agency that’s is responsible for the economy prosperity of the nation.
“I don’t think that that supplementary budget is even fair to the Nigerian Navy, I can say that any day, any time.
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“But I equally see that the presidential yacht in the budget is equally not supposed to be there.
“It can’t be provided for in the budget. There’s nothing wrong with the appearance of the budget, but again, if the Yacht is already been in our water.
“Who provided for the logistics, you paid for the yacht and the yacht was supplied. What is the arrangement with the Nigerian Navy? I don’t have answers to these until we investigate what is going on.”
When asked about the possible time to commence the investigation into the procurement of the presidential Yacht, he said: “I don’t want to be under pressure, I can’t say anything until I go back to the House, call Committee members, sit down and study the nature of things before we commence investigation.”
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