PDP Reacts To Plan By Tinubu Govt To Purchase N5 Billion Presidential Yacht

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the plan to buy a presidential yacht as gross irresponsibility of the government.

It was reported that the federal government had planned to purchase a Presidential yacht worth N 5 billion after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N2.17 trillion as the 2023 supplementary budget.

Naija News learned that the proposed sum is under the capital expenditure of the Nigerian Navy’s budget.

Following the public outrage that trailed the development, the House of Representatives scrapped the controversial N5 billion presidential yacht from the 2023 supplementary budget and transferred it to the Student Loan budget.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, the spokesman of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said the plan to buy a presidential yacht smacks of insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians.

He stated that President Bola Tinubu was ill-advised on such a proposal because it was not in tandem with the harsh economic realities of the country.

Ologunagba asserted that with the state of Nigeria’s economy, it was irresponsible for the government to propose spending the way it has shown.

The PDP spokesman, therefore, asked the National Assembly to reject the proposal.

He said: “If the president can talk about a yacht at this time, it shows the irresponsibility of the government and the insensitivity of our leaders. I believe that the President is ill-advised on it.

“I believe he shouldn’t be asking for a yacht he doesn’t need. They should lead by example.”

Lamenting what he alleged to be the quest for personal aggrandisement by those in government, Ologunagba recounted how the President’s son, Seyi, travelled on a presidential jet to watch a polo game in Kano State.