An Open Letter To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – Purchase Of Presidential Yacht
My Dear President Bola Tinubu, I rejoice with you on the recent validation of your victory by the Supreme Court, especially as the judgement will free you from encumbrances that may distract you from the business of governance and the fulfilment of your ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda to Nigerians.
I’m constrained to draw your attention to the subject of the ‘Presidential Yacht’ and the arguments, for and against the necessity of purchasing a presidential yacht across the nation, especially due to the after effects of fuel subsidy removal and its attendant disproportionate standard of living on Nigerians.
Sir, let me clearly state that though I admire you for the success you achieved in Lagos state as governor and on the subsequent foundation that you laid for your successors for the continuous development of Lagos, I have constructively criticised your policies. Also, I don’t have empirical facts to say or suggest that you like to live an ostentatiously lavish, luxurious lifestyle. And on that basis, it would be wrong for any one to ascribe the genesis of the purchase of the presidential yacht to you for the purposes of sustaining a luxurious life style.
Also, I must state here, and for the records, that the denial by the presidency that the purchase of the yacht was not approved under your leadership is cheering news. Considering the Forex challenges that our nation is currently grappling with, 5 billion Naira for the purchase of a presidential yacht is economically unreasonable and cannot be said to be within the top 5 priorities of your government to improve the standard of living and welfare of Nigerians. Therefore, I plead with you to immediately order that the yacht be returned or sold and its proceeds used to improve critical infrastructure across Nigeria. While I am aware that Nigeria may lose some money if the yacht is sold, the loss will be minimal, not in the range of a billion Naira but a few millions, especially after depreciation value is taken into consideration because this is a brand new yacht. And while we are at the process of the sale of the yacht, I urge you to be mindful of a replication of the notorious P&ID transaction that was recently quashed by a court in the United Kingdom.
Mr. President, sir; permit me to draw your attention to the facts that may be behind the purchase of the presidential yacht.
While it is unarguably a fact that government is a continuum, I beseech you to go back and take a holistic review of the ‘What’, ‘Why’ and ‘How’ the purchase of the presidential yacht was processed. Clearly, the memo for the purchase of a Naval presidential yacht preceded your administration and that of your immediate predecessor, former president Muhammadu Buhari. The memo to purchase the yacht was originally submitted to former president Goodluck Jonathan who did not approve it. Fast forward to president Buhari’s administration, the memo was again, resubmitted to him. While I will not delve into why president Buhari found the purchase of a presidential yacht necessary, it is on record that he approved its purchase.
Interestingly, without inputs from the Defence Ministry, Navy Board and Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), under the former administration of your direct successor, president Buhari, the request/memo for the purchase of the yacht will not be approved.
From the facts that accompanied the 2023 Supplementary Budget which you presented to the Senate, it was later confirmed that the presidential yacht had already been purchased and delivered to Nigerian Naval authorities!
Based on the above facts, it is necessary that you interrogate the manner with which the transaction of the presidential yacht was executed.
Sir, with my corporate experience in Logistics, procurement and shipping processes, I want you to demand for the following documents in respect of the purchase of the presidential yacht from the CBN and Naval authorities:
• Letter of Credit
• Form ‘M’
• Receipt of allocation of Foreign Exchange
• Invoice (from the manufacturer/seller of the yacht)
• Certificate of Country of Origin
• Packing List
• Commercial Invoice
• Freight Invoice/Receipt
• SONCAP – approval certificate (by Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON)
• PAAR (by the NCS)
• Duty (generated by the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS)
• Shipping documents, etcetera.
With the above documents, the historical facts and details of the purchase of the presidential yacht will be unveiled.
Also, Mr. President, something seems not to be right on the purchase of the presidential yacht. Is it possible that some officials of the Nigerian Navy in cahoots with officials of the Ministry of Finance and CBN, knowing fully well that this particular yacht had been delivered, deliberately raised another memo and surreptitiously inserted the request for the purchase of another presidential yacht into the 2023 Supplementary Budget?
Was it the alarm and cries of Nigerians that forced officials of the presidency to go back to make a holistic investigation of that request to come back and inform Nigerians that the presidential yacht was not ordered by your administration but by the administration of former president Buhari?
And that the yacht had already been delivered? Certainly, there is more than meets the eye in the processes that led to the purchase of the presidential yacht.
Considering the fact that officials of the Nigerian Navy were perhaps reluctant, and deliberately not voluntarily forthcoming with information on the purchase of the presidential yacht, this raises questions and smacks of complicity in the whole exercise and processes that led to the purchase of the presidential yacht.
Finally, Mr. President, I urge you follow up on and request for the above documents to be submitted to you for review with inputs from the following officials: the National Security Adviser, your Chief of Staff, Comptroller General of the NCS, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, serving Assistant Deputy Governors under the past CBN Governor and top officials of Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS).
May God bless Nigeria.
By Onorakpene Eviosekwofa