By Uche Amunike
The Federal Government has affirmed that the new official jet presently being used by President Bola Tinubu is not a brand new one, like is being claimed on social media, but rather, a refurbished one.
Speaking during the Sunday edition of the popular TV program on Channels Television, Inside sources, anchored by Laole Akande, Presidential Spokesman, Bayo Onanuga stated that the refurbished jet was acquired by the government for the president, adding that it belongs to the country.
According to him, some of the Jets in the presidential fleet, which were purchased during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo are now in bad shape with their maintenance costs being overly outrageous.
He explained that President Bola Tinubu decided to seek the approval of the National Assembly for the purchase of a refurbished jet that was still in good condition, instead of paying lots of money on maintenance of the aircraft.
He maintained, during the socio-economic TV programme, that the refurbished airbus A330 will save the country high maintenance costs that would have been used in servicing the old aircraft.
He also explained that it would not be the first time that the presidency would be buying a refurbished aircraft, as it was also witnessed during the time of former President Obasanjo.
Hear him: ‘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 when the President went to Saudi Arabia, and that plane developed some problems. The President had to leave with a chartered jet to the Netherlands. It’s not President Tinubu’s plane. It belongs to the people of Nigeria. It is our property.’
Onanuga appealed to Nigerians to make the safety of President Bola Tinubu a priority, reiterating that the newly acquired jet belongs to Nigeria and would therefore, also benefit President Tinubu’s successor.
He further stated that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, approved of the purchase of the refurbished plane, saying that the maintenance cost of the old aircraft was exorbitant.
His words: ‘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.’
The presidency has continued to defend president Tinubu’s action of purchasing the refurbished airbus, especially as the action has been queried by many Nigerians, as well as some of the 2023 presidential candidates.
Most Nigerians have criticized the move made by the federal government of buying the air bus, stating that President Bola Tinubu is not concerned about the plight of poor Nigerians, who are grappling under the weight of unprecedented food inflation and the high prices of petroleum products in the past year.
