Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga claims that President Bola Tinubu did not purchase a brand-new aircraft as many speculated, but a revamped plane.

Speaking in an interview with Channels TV on Sunday, October 27, 2024, Onanuga hinted that the plane belongs to the Nigerian people and is not Tinubu’s personal property.

“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria; it is our property,'' he said.

He pointed out that the presidential fleet, including the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 bought during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure, is in terrible condition.

Onanuga lamented the high cost of maintenance, noting that instead of spending outrageous amounts on repair, the President sought the approval of the National Assembly for a refurbished jet.

The presidential aide appealed to Nigerians to prioritise the president’s safety, saying, “People should try to prioritise the safety of the president. I’m not sure anybody wishes for our president to crash in the air. We want his safety so that he can hand over to whoever wants to take over from him.”

Onanuga mentioned that President Tinubu will not take the just-acquired jet with him when he leaves office.

“The president did not buy a new jet; what he has is a refurbished jet – it has been used by somebody else before he got it but it is a much newer model than the one President Buhari used. The one President Buhari used was bought by President Obasanjo some 20 years ago. There was a time the President went to Saudi Arabia; that plane developed some problems and the President had to leave with a chartered jet to The Netherlands,” he said

Onanuga stated that prior to the purchase of the Airbus, he spoke with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, about the faulty plane and he advised that the age of the plane would warrant exorbitant costs, hence the need for another plane.

His defense follows criticisms from Nigerians over the decision of the presidency to acquire a new plane amid the country’s economic challenges.

Recently, there have been calls from some political stakeholders for a new jet for Vice President Kashim Shettima after he ended his flight to the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa when a foreign object hit the windscreen of the cockpit.