Nigerians deserve explanations on new, old presidential jets, Peter Obi tells Presidency

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the 2023 General Elections, Peter Obi, on Tuesday, asked the President Bola Tinubu administration to show Nigerians details of the newly acquired presidential jet and those of the old ones being sold off.

Tinubu, on Monday, embarked on a working visit to France aboard a newly acquired Airbus A330 business jet. This was amid the growing controversies surrounding its purchase.

The model, typically used as a twin-aisle passenger aircraft, was purchased last month at a cost of $100m and has been registered to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

The modified jet is one of the three presidential aircraft recently seized by a French court in favour of a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, over a dispute with the Ogun State Government.

Meanwhile, on August 16, Zhongshan said that it had decided to release one of the three aircraft as a gesture of goodwill, especially due to a scheduled meeting between President Tinubu and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

Obi, however, in a post on his X handle titled: “Now that the Presidential Jet has arrived,” stated: “From all indications, despite all the denials, and back and forth over the newly acquired Presidential aircraft, the jet is now here thanks to the French court that helped Nigerians to get the information.

“Now that the Jet is here, can Nigerian taxpayers whose money was used to purchase it need to be privy to how much it cost and how old the aircraft is and how long its been in operation.

“In addition, Nigerians also deserve to know about how the old jets being disposed, 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.

“A presidential jet is a major symbol of national sovereignty and state power. How much it costs to transport the president, is a major issue of public accountability. I hope that Nigerians will not be denied the right of full disclosure on the new presidential jet.”