Monday, October 28, 2024 –Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, says contrary to popular opinion, President Bola Tinubu, did not acquire a new official jet but a refurbished one.
While speaking on Channels TV on Sunday, October 27, Onanuga said;
“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane, it belongs to the people of Nigeria,
it is our property''
He said some jets in the presidential fleet like a 19-year-old Boeing
B737-700 purchased under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo are all in bad
condition, and their maintenance costs were outrageous. Hence, instead of
spending a bogus amount of money on aircraft maintenance, the President sought
the approval of the National Assembly for a refurbished jet still in good
condition.
Onanuga said the refurbished Airbus A330 would save Nigeria high
maintenance costs in servicing the old aircraft.
Onanuga urged Nigerians to prioritise the President’s safety, noting
that the newly acquired plane is Nigeria’s property, not Tinubu’s. The
presidential spokesman said Tinubu won’t take the just-acquired jet with him
when he leaves office. Onanuga said the jet would also benefit Tinubu’s
successor.
“The president did not buy a new jet; what he has is a refurbished jet –
it has been used by somebody else before he got it but it is a much newer model
than the one President Buhari used. The one President Buhari used was bought by
President Obasanjo some 20 years ago. There was a time the President went to
Saudi Arabia, that plane developed some problems and the President had to leave
with a chartered jet to The Netherlands.” he said
The presidential spokesman said he spoke with the National Security
Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, on the faulty plane and he said the maintenance
costs because of the age of the plane were exorbitant hence the need for
another plane
“People should try to prioritise the safety of the president. I’m not
sure anybody wishes our president to go and crash in the air. We want his
safety so that he can hand over to whoever wants to take over from him,”
Onanuga said.
While the Presidency has continued to defend Tinubu’s action to purchase
the refurbished Airbus A330, the move has been criticised by many Nigerians and
some of his contenders in the 2023 election, who felt the President was
unfeeling to the plight of poor Nigerians grappling under the weight of
unprecedented food inflation, and energy prices which have quadrupled in the
last one year.
The health state of the Presidential Air Fleet has been a source of
concern of late. In May, a faulty presidential jet stopped Vice President
Kashim Shettima from attending the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the
Corporate Council on Africa.
Last December, a presidential aircraft, Falcon 900B, was put up
for sale, with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) asking interested persons to submit
their bids for the purchase of the aircraft.
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