Presidency speaks on acquiring yacht spotted in France with Nigerian flag

The Senior Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on digital and new media, Otega Ogra, on Saturday, disowned a yacht spotted with the Nigerian flag in St-Tropez, a coastal town in France.

NaijaOnPoint.com.ng (NOP) reports that a video of a “presidential yacht’’ allegedly belonging to the Nigerian government being used for vacation at St Tropez” surfaced on  social media over the weekend.

Reacting via the microblogging platform, X formerly Twitter, the presidential aide in a post on X, said the yacht belongs to a private individual.

The presidential aide said flags used by the president or armed forces do not contain the coat of arms like the one on the yacht.

Ogra said on Saturday, “There have been false claims circulating that a private individual’s yacht was spotted in St. Tropez is a Nigerian government yacht. Here are some points to consider in order to discern the truth.

“The 42m Bennetti yacht currently being shared online has been privately owned for around 5 years since it was constructed.

“It is important to note that this specific yacht has no connection or ownership ties to the Nigerian government, president or armed forces. Any claims or assertions suggesting otherwise are simply not true and inaccurate.

“It is not uncommon for luxury yachts to fly the flag of the owner’s country as well as the flag of the country in which they are registered.

“The official Nigerian flag is Green-White-Green without a coat of arms in the middle. Flags representing the Nigerian President or the Armed Forces do not contain a coat of arms in the center. Placing anything in the center of the flag is a clear deviation.”