*On Presidential Yatch And Other Matters* .

It has become a pattern for some individuals, CSOs and a section of the media to pick one or two line items every budget cycle for sensational headlines, deliberately ignoring context in their reporting.

*The public that should benefit from good journalism, which should primarily educate and adequately inform, is left confused and miseducated due to mischaracterisation of issues and misrepresentation of facts.

The trending issues on social media since yesterday are two items in the 2023 supplementary budget. One is the provision for a presidential yacht in the supplementary budget by the Navy and the other is over N6 billion for vehicles to the State House.

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* .

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.

It is important to say that journalism should enrich public enlightenment and not create an atmosphere of siege. It is poor reporting to always reduce State House budgetary provisions to the President and Vice President.

When the State House makes provision for vehicles, it is reported as if it is the President that will use all the vehicles or eat all the food when a provision is made for food and catering services. 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.

It is worth stating that in August this year President Tinubu as the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Governments of ECOWAS hosted two extraordinary summits of the regional body over the political crisis in Niger Republic. The two summits required catering services for the ECOWAS leaders and their delegation. Just this past Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was on a State Visit to Nigeria with a delegation of top business men and women from Germany. The President hosted the visiting Chancellor and his delegation to a state banquet. State House budget for food and catering services is spent on such events. It is not spent essentially to feed the President and Vice President.

On matters of vehicles, the N6 billion budget provision is not to buy vehicles for the President and Vice President alone. President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima are not using any new vehicles in their fleet. They are using inherited vehicles. There are hundreds of civil servants and political aides working at the State House who need operational vehicles. I am a senior aide of the President. I am using my personal car and at my own expense since I resumed work more than five months ago.

Like me, virtually all the appointees of the President are using personal vehicles at their own expense for official duties. Most of the vehicles in the pool for various departments are run down. Even members of the State House Press Corps do not have functional bus to ease their movement. I know for a fact that a request for a new bus for State House Press Corps is captured in the supplementary budget for vehicles.

It is necessary to add that none of the political appointees has drawn any benefit and perks from public treasury. I must add that in 5 months, we have not even received a kobo as salary because of procedural issues involved in capturing new appointees on the payroll via IPPIS.

The Presidency is a huge Bureaucracy with hundreds of staff. Any budget head for the State House is to run the system, not for epicurean fantasy of a sitting President and Vice President. In this pageview-centric and social media age, it is easy to provoke public rage. It is also tempting for bloggers and quack journalists to take the easy road of sensationalism to attract traffic to their blogs and news websites. But good journalism, I believe, should be about substance and nuanced reporting.

-Ajayi is a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

Pls can any nice person help with that Burna's 'you go explain tire' meme? Aswear, it'll go well with the story, if citizens are expected to help the govt blame the press for reporting the facts!

Liars.

Abeg 9ja news don tire me,

I no get strength to come dey ready episodes wey no go bring food for my table.

I thought as much; the President can't be foolish enough to officially acquire a Yatch amidst these trying times... Knowing fully well how the media is crazed with phoney news.
Sometimes let's try and reason well before jumping around commenting on Media Propaganda.

I fix iPhone panels
Atrial will convince you

LIES

ALMUSTAQIM:
*On Presidential Yatch And Other Matters* .

All those news outlet should be arrested, banned and sentenced to jail. You don't heat up polity unnecessarily. It's so sad that most of the citizens are also ready to feast on lies. Just so sad

Propaganda as usual. The only thing they know is to deny anything. Ole ni gbogboyin

kk

Damage control, something they'll buy through the back door.

They don't care about their voluntary slaves and ronu miscreants even if they die of hunger.

Yawns...
APCheats...




Wittyness

Is it possible to change my Microwave to a higher Wattage?

Unless I use a stabiliser, it won't heat.

Brand = Morphy Richards

I just recently discarded LG inverter microwave after trying to repair it twice. The technicians were complaining of the scarcity of the part that needs to be changed.

One ' old hand' tried to improvise but receive an electronic shock.I knew right there that I will dispose it outright, before e shock me die.

Again, I gave up when I keep seeing that particular inverter microwave at repair shops.

I just called those hausa dirt pickers and dashed them

Please stay away from this particular LG product. I fought technicians because of this product. To even add salt to injury one of technicians mistakenly broke the front glass,and was apologising.Na big baff i finally exchanged this product with b4 I die of hypertension.

Yimu.

Tell the op that not everyone is a dumb like him, yatch when other countries as talking about warship?

They will defend everything as far their henchman is at the helm

Nobody see this phrase ooo WE NEVER COLLECT 5 MONTH SALARY. WE EVEN USE OUR OWN PERSONAL CAR.we all walka pass am.pretend as if we don't see.nigeria my corn3. Kwantinu

Birds of a feather.

Mr Ajayi, that's way too much and unnecessary epistle in defense of your paymaster.

I'm not surprised, you saw nothing wrong with any of these recent "billion billion" extravaganza.

Weh don sire! 😀

Only fools believe whatever comes from presidency.

Imagine this Ajai aide stating that they haven't been paid salary for 6months and have used personal assets to serve the presidency.


All this to draw sympathy from foolish Nigerians..


Only those that has been close to these guys will understand what am saying. There is no single pity for Nigerians, even Tinubu's wife made it clear that Tinubu is poor..

Again foolish Nigerians will believe these tales.

This write up x-rays how this government see Nigerians, when an assertion is made by their spokes person the citizenry hears correctly and raises concerns,it will become an issue in their camp.They are inducing that we do not have right to demand or request for further explanation as regards the importance of such colossal expenditure as against spending on pressing issues that will benefit the country.Such brazen effontery is only seen in Nigeria where there no rule of law, only the strongest takes it by force,such a big shame on them.

You go explain tire

Nigerians are just too civil and tolerate nonsense. Tell me one reason why a senator can receive a vehicle worth one hundred and sixty million Naira under the economic realities of the present day Nigeria. For the issue under discussion, the Government and the officials are the officials are just wicked. The most painful part of the issue is that they are borrowing for the expenses
.

What is the navy doing with a presidential yacht


What happened to the other operational vehicles bought last 4 years used by former state house appointees


I have a 512g STEAM DECK With 256g Batocera 4000+ Retro Games going for cheap

Check my profile

The same way the airforce is in charge of the Presidential Jets is the same way the Navy would ordinarily be in charge of a presidential boat or yatch or ship. Moreso, what happened to the budget of the armed forces being classified? Maybe the Navy was in charge of getting the boat, it didn't change the fact that it was meant for use of the Presidency however, noble the reason is...

P.S: The APC government lacks the moral right to claim that journalists are incompetent. They created that monster in build up to 2015. They should live with it

Why should you bother explaining to people who choose to believe lies?

Well, wisdom should help to wise to sieve lies due to sensationalism and get the Truth.

We are past feeling bad for people in power. His claim was that it was due to IPPS bureaucracy. They will eventually pay them. Most civil servants use their personal vehicles. What is bad about him using his personal vehicle? After all, he is being paid for his job.
But you see those workers in Imo, they have not been paid for months for no concrete reasons.

kingsleefolli:
Nobody see this phrase ooo WE NEVER COLLECT 5 MONTH SALARY. WE EVEN USE OUR OWN PERSONAL CAR.we all walka pass am.pretend as if we don't see.nigeria my corn3. Kwantinu

NA YATCH REMAIN NOW... THE POIR MAN SHOULD ENDURE AND SACRIFICE WHILE THE RULERS CAN BUY BULLETPROOF SUVs and YATCHS

This article does not make any sense to me, I kept shaking my head in disgust as I read through. Justifying excesses of government and so-called aides/staff of the Presidency; e.g. saying that they have been using their own vehicles (which I do not believe) and that members of the State House Press Corps do not have functional bus to ease their movement. What happened to the previous vehicles allocated to the Press Corps in the past years?

Anyway, we have made it into international news for the wrong reasons once more and they are all shocked by the absurdity of it all. A country that’s so poor, yet the leaders (and their aides like Temitope Ajayi) want all the perks associated with the offices. I am ashamed!

ALMUSTAQIM:
*On Presidential Yatch And Other Matters* .

"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"

You don't needs something, you have asked the citizens to tighten their belt. Isn't it financial rascality to approve what "you don't need", especially since it is in your name?
Again, sane leaders will ask what the fleet is for and likely say we don't have money for that at the moment. Rubbish Oluwole certificate people

Tinubu is the representative of all Yorubas worldwide