The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, and former Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi has demanded that the Federal Government should give account of the dealings and operations of the old and new presidential jets.
Obi stated this in a series of tweets on his official X handle. His statement follows recent controversy over the Ogun State government’s deal with a Chinese business for the planes, which resulted in the confiscation of three aircraft.
In response to the development, Obi called the federal government to provide information on the cost of the jets, their total number, and other non-public 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.”
Recall that a French court had ordered Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited to take three presidential aeroplanes belonging to the Nigerian government due to contract breach, sparking controversy.
The Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris ordered Nigeria not to move or sell the presidential jets until the Chinese corporation got the $74.5 million compensation.
The court allowed the company to seize three presidential jets on routine maintenance in France as “security” for claims in a decades-long judicial matter between the foreign company and the Ogun State government.
According to sources, the confiscated presidential jets include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Paris’s Le Bourget airport, as well as a Boeing 737 and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse in Switzerland. One of the jets was later given to the Nigerian government.
The debate has subsequently died down, with experts weighing in on the deal and many blaming the federal government for consistently failing to meet contractual obligations.
However, Bayo Onanuga the presidential spokesman who reacted to the report noted that the Chinese firm was trying “to take over offshore assets of the Federal Government of Nigeria through subterfuge”.
