Since assuming office last year, President Buhari has made cutting ostentation in government and reducing the waste of public resources his main priority. However the presidency has a fleet of 11 presidential aircrafts, which have been a huge drain on public funds and last week, two of these planes were put up for sale.
It now appears that as part of this process, several of the jets will be handed over to Naf, to add to its fleet. One presidency source said that the handover ceremony would hold at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Although it is not yet clear what number of aircraft to be handed over to Naf, it is believed that at least two of such presidential jets would be presented to the air force. Out of the 11 aircraft currently in the fleet, only the Boeing Business Jet 737-800 or Air Force One, is for the president’s exclusive use.
“I can confirm to you that based on the directive of the president, the commander of the Presidential Air Fleet will hand over some aircraft in the fleet to the Nigeria Air Force on Monday. The handover ceremony will be open to members of the public and President Buhari may be represented at the event by the minister of defence," the source said.
Other government officials who fly aircraft in the fleet are vice president Yemi Osinbajo, Aisha Buhari, Dolapo Osinbajo, senate president Bukola Saraki, speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and ex-heads of state and top government officials on national assignments on behalf of the president. It is not clear if they will now have to use scheduled flights for their travel.
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