The Nigerian senate has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take over the country’s biggest ship from the Navy.
Federal Government would require the sum of $200m to either refit it or $700m to replace the Nigerian Navy Flagship ARADU that is presently grounded, Punch reports.
The red chamber also called for a stakeholders’ roundtable forum which would include, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Customs and Excise, and the Nigerian Immigration Services.
The Senate said the forum would fashion out a funding regime to facilitate the refitting and refurbishing of the Navy flagship in servicing Nigeria’s maritime domain.
The motion was sponsored by Senator George Sekibo (Rivers East), and co-sponsored by 14 other lawmakers.
Sekibo, said that the Nigerian Navy flagship, NNS ARADU, is one of the first of the MEKO 360 general-purpose frigates built by one of the biggest shipbuilders in Germany and commissioned on February 22, 1982.
He said NNS ARADU is also the largest ship in the Nigerian Navy fleet with a length of 125.6-metres (412 ft l inch) and as a general-purpose frigate.
He added that the capabilities of the Frigate ensured the Nigerian Navy continued to reach out to blue waters with the appropriate ships in terms of firepower, extended operational range and enhanced surveillance capability.
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