President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, has addressed the controversy surrounding the N2.1 trillion supplementary budget that Tinubu submitted to the National Assembly.
Among the contentious allocations in the budget was a staggering N5.09 billion earmarked for a presidential yacht, along with N2.9 billion for sport utility vehicles for the Presidential Villa and another N2.9 billion for the replacement of operational vehicles for the presidency. The yacht, in particular, drew public scrutiny as it was listed under the Nigerian Navy’s proposed capital expenditure of N42.3 billion.
In response to the criticisms and speculations surrounding this allocation, Ajayi clarified that President Tinubu did not request a presidential yacht and expressed doubts about the necessity of such an expenditure for the functions of his office. He emphasized the need for the Budget Office to provide a clear explanation to the public regarding the reasons for this allocation, especially considering the country’s current economic situation.
“It is important to state clearly that President Bola Tinubu didn’t ask for a presidential yatch and I doubt he needs one to perform the functions of his office. From what I know, the request for a yacht, however it is named or couched in the budget is from the Navy and they must have operational reasons for why it is required.” Ajayi wrote.
Ajayi highlighted the issues with the budgeting system, where line items are often described in overly simplistic terms, leading to misunderstandings and controversies. He cited a past example when a Ministry of Solid Minerals project worth over N300 million was labeled as a “website” in the budget, causing confusion and public outrage. He urged for more accurate and informative budget reporting.
“The budget office should be in a position to also explain to the public why such expenditure should be accommodated now, considering the economic situation of the country. I must readily admit that the one reason our budgeting system has been a subject of public attack is the very simplistic way some of the line items are described by civil servants, who prepare the budget. Examples abound. Sometimes in 2016, an Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP) project of the Ministry of Solid Minerals worth over N300m then was captured in that year’s budget as “website”. Naturally, it generated a massive controversy as people, rightly, asked to know the type of website that will be built with N300million.” Ajayi wrote.
Furthermore, he stressed the importance of responsible journalism, pointing out that budgetary provisions made for the State House should not be solely attributed to the President and Vice President. It is a common misconception that when provisions are made for vehicles or food and catering services, these funds will be exclusively consumed by the head of state and vice president. Ajayi argued that this is a flawed perspective, as such budgetary allocations are meant to cover a wide range of state events, meetings, hosting of VIPs, foreign dignitaries, visits by other Heads of State, and various bilateral and multilateral meetings conducted by the State House throughout the year.
“We have had such inaccurate reporting in the past. A President and Vice President cannot, for any reason, spend N20 million naira to eat in a year if it is about the food they will eat as first and second families. “How much food can a person really eat? Yet, we will read headlines that Tinubu, Buhari, Jonathan or whoever the President is wants to spend N5billion on food and catering in a year when in actual fact such budgetary provisions are made to accommodate many state events, meetings, hosting of VIPs, foreign dignitaries, and even visits by other Heads of State, and bilateral and multilateral meetings that the State House will deal with in a given year,” Ajayi wrote.
In essence, Ajayi’s statement seeks to debunk the notion that President Tinubu personally requested a presidential yacht. He emphasizes the need for clarity in budget descriptions and responsible journalism when reporting on budgetary allocations for the State House, as these allocations serve a broader purpose in facilitating the functions of the presidency and the State House in general.