Two of the 10 jets in the presidential fleet have been put up for sale as part of a drive to cut costs, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced on Tuesday.
“The newspaper advertisements for the sale of two Presidential aircraft, a Falcon 7x executive jet and Hawker 4000 were duly authorized by the Presidency,” Shehu said.
Buhari took over power last year, vowing to crack down on corruption and mismanagement of public funds that has seen a rich elite benefit from the OPEC member’s oil wealth while most Nigerians live on less than $1 per day.
“This is in line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that aircraft in the Presidential air fleet be reduced to cut down on waste,” Shehu continued.
“When he campaigned to be President, the then APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari, if you recall, promised to look at the presidential air fleet with view to cutting down on waste.
“His directive to a government committee on this assignment is that he liked to see a compact and reliable aircraft for the safe airlift of the President, the Vice President and other government officials that go on special missions.
“This exercise is by no means complete.
“I am sure the Commander of the Presidential air fleet will any time from now, call you to a ceremony at which he will hand over some other aircraft to the Airforce for their operations.
Nigeria is in a recession for the first time in more than 20 years, largely due to low oil prices and almost total dependence on exportation.
