FG bought refurbished jet for Tinubu’s use, says presidency
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga has said that contrary to popular opinion, the Federal Government did not acquire a new official jet but a refurbished one.
“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria; it is our property,” Onanuga said in a Sunday interview with Laolu Akande on Channels Television.
Onanuga claimed that some of the presidential fleet’s aircraft, including the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 that former President Olusegun Obasanjo acquired were in poor shape and that their maintenance expenses were exorbitant.
According to him, the President requested the National Assembly’s consent for a refurbished plane that was still in good condition rather than shelling out an large sum of money for aircraft upkeep.
Noting that the recently purchased aircraft belongs to Nigeria and not Tinubu, Onanuga urged Nigerians to put the President’s safety first.
Tinubu will not take the recently purchased jet with him when he leaves office, according to the presidential spokesperson. Related News
According to Onanuga, the jet will help Tinubu’s successor as well.
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.”
The presidential spokesman said he spoke with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, on the faulty plane, he explained the maintenance costs because of the age of the plane were exorbitant, necessitating 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.
