Cold shower for the head of state who asked parliament for a ‘luxury yacht’

The lower house of the Nigerian Parliament has rejected the government’s plan to buy a yacht worth $6 million for President Bola Tinubu.

According to the BBC, parliamentarians modified this expense in the draft budget and decided to grant $6 million in loans to students.

“You cannot buy a yacht for the leader of the country while the poor struggle to survive in a canoe,” said human rights activist and former MP Shenu Sani. The Nigerian Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project also said: “The purchase of this yacht cannot be justified in any way while 137 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty.”

THE COUNTRY IS IN ECONOMIC CRISIS

In Nigeria, which was going through an economic crisis in which inflation rose to 26 percent and the currency rapidly lost value against the dollar, the president’s request for a luxury yacht sparked reactions.

When President Tinubu came to power in May, he promised to reduce waste and solve livelihood problems.

Tinubu’s spokesperson, Temitope Ajayi, argued that the request to purchase the yacht came from the navy and was not directly related to Tinubu.

On the other hand, the budget allocated $36 million for parliamentary expenses. These include the purchase of luxury cars and the construction of a new presidential building. The government also plans to spend $15 million on the presidential air fleet.