Politics
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THE Presidency is, indeed, planning to sell two of the aircraft in the presidential fleet. Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, gave the confirmation in reaction to a newspaper advertisement on Tuesday, October 4. He confirmed that the sale of a Falcon 7X executive jet and Hawker 4000 had been duly authorised by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking to journalists, Shehu said the decision to sell the jets was in line with the directive of the president that aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet should be reduced to cut down on waste. He explained that the reduction would not end with the sale of the two jets.
Besides, he said some aircraft in the fleet would also soon be handed over to the Nigeria Air Force for its operations.
Shehu said: “When he campaigned to be President, the then APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari, if you recall, promised to look at the Presidential Air Fleet with a view to cutting down on waste.
“His directive to a government committee on this assignment is that he likes 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 Air Force for their operations.”
According to the Presidency, the PAF currently has 10 aircraft. They are: Boeing Business Jet, Boeing 737-800 or AirForce One, one Gulfstream 550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X, one Hawker Sidley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters and two AgustaWestland AW 101 helicopters.
Each of the two Falcon 7X jets were purchased in 2010 by the federal government for $51.1m, while the Gulfstream 550 costs $53.3m, the late Dora Akunyili, a former minister of Information, had said.
— Oct 5, 2016 @ 15:20 GMT
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