FG Puts Up Two Presidential Jets For Sale
In an apparent move to cut down the size of the presidential fleet, the federal government, on Tuesday, advertised the sale of two aircraft.
The senior special assistant on media and publicity to the president, Garba Shehu, who confirmed this in a series of tweets via his Twitter handle @GarShehu, said that this is in line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that aircraft in the presidential air fleet be reduced.
Recall that the president has been criticised for maintaining the large fleet in the past, which is believed to hold as much as 10 airplanes.
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The Office of the National Security Adviser advertised the sale of two airplanes in a national daily, adding that the aircraft that are currently up for sale are Falcon 7x and Hawker 4000 and are to be quoted in dollars.
The interested buyers were asked to inspect the Falcon at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Airport, Abuja, and the Hawker at Cessna Zurich Citation Service Centre, Zurich, Switzerland.
Recall that the senator representing Bayelsa east, Ben Bruce, had advised Buhari to sell off all the jets. “I appeal to @MBuhari to sell off our 11 presidential jets. Maintaining them at the current ₦5.3 Billion per annum is against #commonsense. Does it make #commonsense that our presidential air fleet is larger than the combined fleet of the Queen of England and the British PM?” he said via Twitter.
It is speculated that the sale of the presidential fleet was prompted by the recent plans by the government to sell the country’s assets in order to rekindle the dwindling economy.
