According to a new report, there was no approval from the National Assembly before the procurement of the new presidential jet for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Recall that in June, Premium Times had alleged that the Nigerian government had acquired an Airbus A330 aircraft from a German bank.
The German bank had seized the aircraft from an unnamed Arabian prince and businessman, who reportedly failed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars he owed the bank.
Officials of the Presidency, according to the online news platform, had “kept their lips shut” about the planned purchase of a new aircraft for the Presidential Air Fleet.
And since then, there has not been any official statement from the Presidency on the matter.
The matter died down until a recent news report revealed that three Nigerian aircraft were seized by a Chinese firm, acting on an order of a French court.
The French court had ordered the seizure of the three jets amid a long-standing dispute between Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment and the Ogun State government, over a massive industrial park that was to be developed to attract investors.
The planes were said to be undergoing “routine maintenance” at the time of the seizure.
Meanwhile, the Chinese firm said on Friday that it had released, “as a gesture of goodwill”, the Airbus A330 for President Tinubu to travel for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
A presidential spokesperson confirmed to Daily Trust that that the new aircraft was purchased for the president.
“That is settled. Something that is now released (referring to the seized aircraft Airbus A330). If it was not purchased, how could it be withheld by the Chinese company? There’s no controversy around it. Almost everything has been concluded and it was out in the media”, the aide who declined to be named said.
On whether an approval was obtained from the National Assembly before the procurement of the presidential jet, the spokesperson said, “There was a story that the National Assembly directed that the aircraft should be procured for the President. There are a number of windows to the National Assembly.”
The government official also hinted that the aircraft could have been purchased under the Service Wide Vote, which he said, may not require the parliament’s assent.
Some lawmakers who spoke to the aforementioned publication stated that the National Assembly neither considered nor approved any request for the procurement of a presidential jet before proceeding on recess.
A source in the Senate said: “At no time was deal discussed at the plenary meeting. It was not tabled. But then, there is the probability that the president had sent the letter.”
Another source also said he was not aware of any approval by the Senate for the purchase of a new presidential jet.
“The last time we heard something about the new aircraft was when the Senate president, Akpabio, said no communication about it yet from the Villa, but that the National Assembly would not hesitate to approve it.
“I read it in the media that the aircraft had been purchased, and as I speak with you, no one has denied that the deal was sealed,
” he said.
A member of the House of Representatives also revealed that no correspondence from the president was presented to them about the purchase of a new aircraft for the president.
He said: “We’ve not seen anything in the main budget or the supplementary budget about the purchase of a new presidential aircraft. Another thing is that, there is no detail of the supplementary budget passed. So, we don’t know whether it is in the 2024 supplementary budget because we have not been availed with the detailed breakdown. It was presented as a lump sum.”
When contacted on telephone last night, the spokesman of the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Zakari Mijinyawa, told the publication that it could not be true that the new presidential plane was purchased without an approval of the National Assembly.
“It cannot be true. This is the first time I am hearing this whether in government or outside government,” he said.
