President Bola Tinubu’s administration has appointed a US-based broker to sell three aircraft in the presidential fleet amidst plans to purchase new ones.
According to TheCable, a US-based airline marketer, JetHQ, has been hired as the broker to sell off the ageing aircraft.
The fleet put up for sale are Boeing 737 Boeing Business Jet, BBJ, which is the president’s designated aircraft, one Gulfstream, and a Falcon 7x.
JetHQ is to value the three aircraft and subsequently market them.
Quoting a sources in the presidency, ThCable said the federal government decided to put up three aircraft for sale to augment whatever money that will be realized on procuring a new one.
NewsBand had reported that the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence recommended the purchase of two new jets for the president and vice president.
Though, the committee is yet to submit the report for adoption by the House as the lawmakers are still on holiday.
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The report by the lawmakers classified many of the aircraft as unserviceable, adding that due to their age, the cost of maintenance is unsustainable.
But the source said the government can’t afford to buy two new aircraft at the moment.
“We saw the report and recommendation by the lawmakers. But the truth of the matter is that we can not afford to buy two aircraft at a go, even though we are selling off others. The approval now is to find one whose cost is not too much that we can augment with what we raise from this sale,” the source said.
The report explained that the marketing firm has already submitted three bids from buyers to the Office of the National Security Adviser for consideration.
“Yes, we have received two offers for the BBJ and one for the Falcon X. But the NSA insisted that we must press for a better deal instead of rushing to have a bad deal for the government,” an PAF official involved with the process said on condition of anonymity.
However, spokesman to the NSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, confirmed the development.
