The Presidency through its spokesperson,Bayo Onanuga have argued contrary to the public opinion with regard to President Tinubu’s purchase of a new Presidential jet affirming that said his principal, President Bola Tinubu, did not acquire a new official jet but a refurbished one.
The presidential spokesman Onanuga said the refurbished Airbus A330 would save Nigeria high maintenance costs in servicing the old aircraft adding also that the just-acquired jet would also benefit President Bola Tinubu’s successor.
“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane, it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is our property,” Onanuga said on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, on Channels Television.
He said that several of the presidential fleet’s aircraft, including a 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 that was acquired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, are in poor shape and require exorbitant upkeep. Therefore, the President requested the National Assembly’s consent for a refurbished plane that was still in good condition rather than spending a fictitious sum of money on aircraft upkeep.
Noting that the recently purchased aircraft belongs to Nigeria and not Tinubu, Onanuga urged Nigerians to put the President’s safety first.
According to the presidential spokesperson, Tinubu will not be leaving office with the recently purchased jet. According to Onanuga, Tinubu’s successor would also profit from the jet.
Onanuga said, “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.”
According to the presidential spokesman, he discussed the malfunctioning aircraft with National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, who stated that the need for a replacement aircraft was necessary due to the high maintenance expenses resulting from the aircraft’s advanced age.
“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.
