Mr Peter Obi, Presidentyial candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the 2023 election, has challenged the Presidency to disclose the amount, age, and operational history of the Presidential jet it purchased.
The Presidency has repeatedly denied the intention to purchase a Presidential jet for President Bola Tinubu, but on Monday, President tBola Ahmed Tinubu ravelled to France on an Airbus A330, which replaced the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 (BBJ) purchased during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, despite the economic crisis plaguing the country.
He said that a presidential jet is a major symbol of national sovereignty and state power., stressing that how much it costs to transport the president, is a major issue of public accountability.
Obi expressed the hope that Nigerians will not be denied the right of full disclosure on the new presidential jet, stressing that the presidential jet was purchased with taxpayers’ money, thus Nigerians deserve to know how, and why the old jets are being disposed of.
He said; “Now that the Presidential Jet has arrived, from all indications, despite all the denials, and the back and forth over the newly acquired Presidential aircraft, the jet is now here thanks to the French court that helped Nigerians get the information.
“Now that the Jet is here, can Nigerian taxpayers whose money was used to purchase it, be privy to how much it cost, how old the aircraft is, and how long it has been in operation?
“In addition, Nigerians also deserve to know about how the old jets are being disposed of, how many of them, how old they are, and why they are being sold. Transparency and Accountability should be the hallmark of any genuine leadership.
“The government will lose nothing but respect, if it fails to provide adequate information about its leadership to the people whose money is being deployed and whose mandate the President is holding.
The aircraft that arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Sunday, August 18, 2024, with registration number 5N-FGA and HEX CODE 06430C came from a factory in France.
It is a refurbished aircraft acquired from Mid East Jet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to information pieced together.
