THE purchase of another presidential jet by the Bola Tinubu administration underlines the disdain with which the country’s rulers hold the citizens. That the President finds it convenient to indulge in luxurious ostentation at a time when millions of Nigerians are wallowing in poverty, and misery is an affront to decency. It is provocative, insensitive, and self-serving.
How the Airbus A330 jet was purchased smacks of an appalling lack of transparency and accountability that the Tinubu administration has vowed to entrench in public finances. Media reports suggest that the plane, previously owned by a Saudi company, was secretly bought from a German bank for $100 million through United States and Swiss aircraft brokers and a further $50 million to retrofit it in France. Discussions about the purchase occurred at the National Assembly in June, generating a public outcry.
Senate President, Godwill Akpabio, assured that approval would be given if sought. Nigerians were shocked that the aircraft was listed among the three presidential jets reportedly seized by a French court over a legal dispute between a Chinese firm and the Ogun State Government. After the aircraft was released to allow the President to make his latest trip to France, a presidential aide revealed that the purchase was made from the service-wide vote and Nigerians presented with a fait accompli.
The Tinubu administration has demonstrated poor judgement. Spending $150 million or N240 billion, equivalent to two-t.