Atiku blasts Senate for approving presidential jet and yacht for Tinubu

July 19, 2024

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized the Nigerian Senate for approving the purchase of a presidential jet and yacht for President Bola Tinubu.

Atiku expressed his discontent in a post on X, while lamenting over what he perceives as a growing trend of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, acting as a compliant body to the executive arm of government.

He lamented that the legislative body, which should act as a check on the executive and protect the interests of the people, has instead become subservient to President Tinubu’s administration.

He referenced the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi, who had raised alarms about budget padding in the 2024 Appropriation Bill.

He said instead of investigating the claims, the Senate chose to suspend Ningi.

Similarly, Atiku noted the removal of Senator Ali Ndume from his position as Chief Whip after he called on the President to address the pressing issues of hunger and poverty affecting Nigerians.

Atiku said: ”Despite persistent solicitations that government put its priorities on canceling the excruciating hardship in the land and suspend the idea of spending scarce resources on the purchase of new aircraft for the presidential fleet, the Senate took a stand against the people and ignored the voices of altruism by decorating the President with controversial purchases of an aircraft and a yacht amidst the worst material conditions of the average citizen in the history of our country.

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”We are, therefore, beginning to see a pattern in which the National Assembly has become an enabler of executive recklessness, and the concerns of the people stand in the nadir of priority list of the legislature.

”This emerging reality must stop. The health of our democracy is being compromised by this unholy alliance between the executive and the legislature and portends a dictatorship that will worsen the lot of the people.”