The Presidency has revealed that President Bola Tinubu acquired a refurbished, not a new jet, for his official duties.
Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, issued the explanation when he was featured on Channels TV’s Inside Sources, anchored by Laolu Akande.
Onanuga said some jets in the presidential fleet, like a 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 purchased under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, are all in inadequate 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 excellent condition.
He revealed that the new presidential jet belongs to Nigeria, as Tinubu will not take it with him when he leaves office.
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. President Obasanjo purchased the jet that President Buhari used approximately 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. It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria; it is our property.”
